An NRW Holdings subsidiary has landed a major contract for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) at Northern Star Resources’ Kalgoorlie consolidated gold mines (KCGM).
Under the contract, Primero Group (the subsidiary) will be responsible for the design, procurement, construction, and commissioning of process plant facilities at KCGM. The work is expected to increase KCGM capacity to 27 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) up from 13 mtpa.
The contract has an approximate value of $973 million and is scheduled for completion in the third quarter of 2026.
Primero participated in a competitive early contractor involvement (ECI) program from January 2022 and has worked with the Northern Star project team to develop a technically superior design that will bring operating benefits to the Fimiston processing plant.
“This EPC contract reinforces Primero’s reputation as a leading provider of world class engineering and construction services,” NRW managing director Jules Pemberton said.
“This project showcases Primero’s full range of in-house capability. I look forward to developing a long-term relationship with one of the industry’s leading gold producers.”
Primero managing director Michael Gollschewski reacted to the contract.
“The execution of the KCGM growth project is the culmination of an 18-month journey with Northern Star,” he said.
“The work conducted to date to develop the capital cost, design, execution strategy and schedule for the project, has been one of the most comprehensive and rigorous ECI programmes we have participated in.”
The KCGM operations include the Fimiston open pit; Mt Charlotte underground mine; and the Fimiston and Gidji processing plants.
Last week Northern Star Resources announced another contract – the $67 million purchase of the Millrose gold project from Strickland Resources.
The WA gold project has a known mineral resource of 346 thousand ounces of gold at a grade of 1.80 grams per tonne.
Millrose is located 40km to the east of Northern Star’s Jundee operations. According to the company, Millrose will become a supplementary feed source for the Jundee mill in the medium term, complementing Jundee’s underground base load.