SMS Innovative Mining Solutions has been awarded the contract by Tawana Resources NL (ASX: TAW) to provide open pit mining services at the Bald Hill lithium and tantalum project located 50km south-east of Kambalda in Western Australia.
The project will consist of open pit mining services including load and haul, drill and blast, and mine development activities. The duration of the initial contract is four years with the mine producing 155,000 tonnes of spodumene concentrate and 260,000 pounds of tantalum pentoxide a year over the initial mine life.
Tawana and Singapore Exchange-listed Alliance Mineral Assets Limited each have a 50:50 ownership of the Bald Hill Project. Tawana recently announced the project’s initial pit is set to deliver earnings of $83 million a year, with cash flow across its life of $223 million. Confirmation of drilling on the inferred resource at Bald Hill is likely to extend its life to 2028 by the end of 2018.
SMS was able to demonstrate our ability to add value by leveraging our technical and commercial capabilities; as well as our resources in our earthmoving fleet and maintenance capacity. The project will have a peak workforce of up to 215 personnel.
“This contract is a testament to the entire SMS team who have worked hard over the past 18 months to successfully executing the businesses strategy to expand our contract mining business, solidifying the company’s position as a diversified mining services business with mining service capabilities across multiple commodities including gold, iron ore, coal, lithium and tantalum” said Shaun Clark, COO – SMS.
SMS is proud to be a part of the Tawana Resources story and we look forward to forging a long-term and successful partnership through the Bald Hill project.