Macmahon wins $190m contract at Qld mine

Engineering contractor Macmahon Holdings Ltd says it has been awarded a three-year contract valued at more than $190 million to develop and operate the new Cameby Downs coal mine in Queensland.

The contract, awarded by mine owners Syntech Resources Pty Ltd, is for Macmahon to undertake all mining for stage one of the project. This includes planning, mine development, waste stripping, coal mining, coal preparation and train loading.

Cameby Downs is in the Surat Basin and is about 360 km west of Brisbane, near the township of Miles.

Macmahon chief executive Nick Bowen said that the award was an excellent addition to the company's growing portfolio of work.

Production will commence in July and the first coal train load is expected in October.

At full production in stage one, the mine will produce 1.4 million tonnes each year of high-quality thermal coal for export via Port of Brisbane.

Stage two production is targeted at shipping in excess of 10 million tonnes via Port of Gladstone.

About 140 people will be employed on the site and, where practical, Macmahon will source the workforce from local communities.

The Surat Basin forms one of the last major undeveloped export coal deposits in Australia with an estimated coal resource of about four billion tonnes and an anticipated life span of over 30 years.