NRW Holdings subsidiary Golding Contractors has signed a letter of intent to perform mining services for Wonbindi Coal at the Baralaba North mine in Queensland.
Golding has provided contract mining services to Wonbindi for the last four years at Baralaba and will now continue the relationship until 2028.
The contract will earn Golding about $800 million for the maintenance and operation of a client-owned fleet of equipment, producing ultra-low volatile PCI coal.
The latest contract means that, by the end of 2028, Golding will have earned approximately $1.34 billion in 10 years of operation at Baralaba.
The relationship between NRW and Wonbindi was last renewed in March 2021, when a $120 million deal was struck to extend from June 2021 to June 2022.
The mine was put under care and maintenance between 2015 and 2018 after an $81 million guarantee from ANZ bank failed, but Golding was responsible for restarting the operation for $420 million.
Upon restart in May 2018, NRW chief executive officer and managing director Jules Pemberton said Golding would create the greatest value it could from the internationally renowned mine.
“[The contract] is drafted to incentivise the contractor to maximise coal production and to perform at below budget cost,” he said. “Actual project costs are reimbursable.”
The open-cut Balaraba North mine is located about 180 kilometres west of Gladstone and is approved to produce up to 4.1 million tonnes per annum of run-of-mine coal.
The deal with Wonbindi is the second for Golding worth more $600 million or more, after the company signed with SIMEC Mining to operate at its South Middleback Ranges and Iron Baron mining area in South Australia.