THE new operator of Idemitsu’s Boggabri coal mine was officially handed the reins at the start of the month, marking the start of a $700 million five-year contract .
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BGC Contracting commenced mining and equipment maintenance operations at the open-cut mine, meeting its 1 December start-up commitment.
BGC Contracting CEO Greg Heylen said mobilisation of the contract, which was awarded in June this year, was achieved with an outstanding safety performance.
“While meeting the start-date commitment is an important achievement, the team’s safety performance during the five-month project lead-up was outstanding,” Mr Heylen said.
“Approximately 30,000 hours of work was delivered, including the commissioning of equipment onsite, injury free.”
Mr Heylen said it was pleasing so many local people and contractors had been engaged in the project predominantly from within the local communities of Boggabri, Gunnedah, Narrabri and Tamworth.
“Apart from being a mark of good corporate citizenship, recruiting locally was an important factor in ensuring the safety of people on the project, the retention of valuable skills and the smooth transition of services culminating in the on-time contract start-up,” he said.
“Recruitment is ongoing, with a number of vacancies remaining for maintainers and operators. I encourage any interested local candidates to apply for these roles.”
Idemitsu Australia Resources chief operating officer Steve Kovac said the contract was benefiting the region with key deliverables, including maintaining a permanent residential workforce and supporting local content.
“A priority for Idemitsu across all of its operations is to maximise benefits and opportunities for the communities we operate in and I am pleased with the progress we’ve made at the Boggabri mine,” Mr Kovac said.
“BGC through this contract has committed to a local spend of more than $10 million, including approximately $3 million with local suppliers, and more than $6 million with the local branches of national suppliers.
BGC Contracting has invested more than $200 million in assets for the project, including excavators, dump trucks, graders and dozers as part of a new fleet to supplement Idemitsu’s existing mining fleet.
The Boggabri contract is BGC Contracting’s biggest NSW win in recent years and endorses the company’s confidence in the potential for growth in NSW and the coal sector.
