Image: Mineral Resources
Rio Tinto has awarded a contract to CSI Mining Services for the development of the Lens A/B pit at the Brockman 2 iron ore mine in Western Australia.
The Mineral Resources (MinRes) subsidiary will engage a team of 150 people to assist in load and haul, drill and blast and short-term mine planning activities at Brockman 2.
This will involve scheduling, drilling and blasting and excavating 27 million tonnes of waste rock and iron ore for a period of nine months.
A new fleet of Komatsu 830E electric-drive dump trucks and Komatsu PC4000-11 have been mobilised to site.
The contract is the latest awarded by Rio Tinto since first engaging the mining services company at the Nammuldi iron ore mine in Western Australia 16 years ago.
“Our relationship with Rio Tinto dates back 16 years. Since then, we have been able to establish a track record of consistent project delivery for Rio Tinto, which we are very proud of,” MinRes chief executive mining services Mike Grey said.
“CSI is the world’s largest crushing contractor so it is immensely satisfying that this latest Rio Tinto contract includes other mining activities, such as load and haul and drill and blast, to demonstrate CSI’s diverse skills set.
“We are confident this Brockman 2 scope of work will become the latest chapter of our ongoing association with Rio Tinto.”
The contract is preceded by CSI’s completion of a 30-million-tonne load and haul contract at Rio Tinto’s Tom Price mine in Western Australia.
The company is also working at a fellow Rio Tinto iron ore operation in Western Australia, Paraburdoo, where it is carrying out 13 million tonnes of load and haul operations.