Category: Barminco

Perenti is pleased to announce that Barminco has been awarded a new development contract with Spartan Resources and extensions to four existing projects. The scope of the Spartan Resources contract includes the construction of an underground exploration drill drive at the Dalgaranga Gold Project in the Murchison region of Western Australia. The drive has been designed to run in parallel and adjacent to the mineralised gold zones of Never Never, Pepper, Four Pillars and West Winds, to facilitate underground exploration and subsequently support future production plans.

Construction of the drive is due to start in the current quarter and is expected to take 10 months to complete. It will utilise a combination of existing capital equipment and an additional A$5m of new growth capital.

In addition to the Dalgaranga Project, extensions to contracts have also been signed for the following projects:

• Siou and Wona underground at the Mana gold mine for Endeavour Mining in Burkina Faso.

• An existing copper and gold underground mining project in Canada.

• Spotted Quoll nickel mine for IGO in Australia.

• Mt Colin copper mine for Aeris Resources in Australia.

In combination, these projects are expected to contribute approximately A$160 million of revenue to FY25. The project extensions do not require new growth capital.

Mark Norwell, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of Perenti said, “The greenfield underground at Dalgaranga project is an exciting opportunity. The resource has the potential to grow into a high-grade gold mine and we look forward to supporting Spartan Resources to achieve their targets during the months ahead.

“In addition, the four contract extensions are another example of the 90%+ success rate the Contract Mining division has in extending and renewing contracts. Maintaining client relationships is critical to our long-term success, so we always strive to find ways to deliver value to our clients when possible.”

Gabrielle Iwanow, President of Contract Mining at Perenti said, “We are pleased to be working with Spartan Resources on the new underground Dalgaranga Gold Project in Western Australia. Barminco has a long history of working with Western Australian gold producers and we look forward to building an excellent relationship with their team as they advance towards production.”

Following a significant search and rescue operation at the Dugald River Underground Mine and further to recent announcements, it is with great sadness that Perenti advises of the tragic loss of our colleagues Trevor Davis and Dylan Langridge, the two previously missing Barminco employees.

Managing Director & CEO of Perenti Mark Norwell said, “This is a devastating outcome and I want to extend my deepest sympathies and condolences to the families, friends, colleagues and loved ones of Trevor and Dylan, both of whom should have come home safely from work yesterday.”

Yesterday morning, at approximately 125 metres below the surface, an incident occurred resulting in three Barminco employees, one in a drill rig and two in a light vehicle, falling approximately 15 metres into a void within a previously backfilled stope. The drill rig operator was rescued and received medical treatment for minor injuries. Tragically, through the rescue effort it has been confirmed that the two other Barminco employees, Trevor Davis and Dylan Langridge were fatally injured.

Dylan Langridge was 33 years old and joined Barminco in March 2020 as a truck operator at Savannah before joining the service crew at Dugald River later that year. Dylan continued to progress his career at Dugald River and in October 2021 took up the role of charge up operator.

Trevor Davis was 36 years old and joined Barminco in August 2020 as a shotcrete operator at Rosemont, before transferring to Dugald River as a charge up operator in November 2021.

Both Dylan and Trevor were valued team members and well respected across both sites and the wider Barminco team.

Mark Norwell added, “Our immediate and ongoing focus is on providing support to the families, friends and colleagues of Trevor and Dylan.

“Barminco has been operating at MMG’s Dugald River mine since early 2012 with members of our workforce residing in the local area. This tragic incident is devastating and will have a lasting impact on not only the families and friends of Trevor and Dylan but also on the workforce of Dugald River, the Cloncurry and Mount Isa communities and the entire Perenti workforce.

“The safety of our employees is an absolute priority for Perenti, as it is for the industry more broadly. I am devastated that the families and friends of our two workmates have lost their loved ones. This outcome is simply not acceptable.

“In collaboration with MMG and the relevant authorities in Queensland, we will work to understand the circumstances behind this tragic incident and what additional measures need to be put in place to prevent this type of incident happening again.

“We would like to thank everyone who worked tirelessly under very challenging conditions in the recovery of Trevor and Dylan.

“The rescue operation has now sadly completed. Our primary focus is that of support for the families and colleagues of Trevor and Dylan and in parallel completing a comprehensive investigation.”

Unless further material information comes to light, no further formal updates will be provided such that our full resources can continue to focus on supporting the families and conducting the investigation.

We ask that the privacy of the families of Trevor and Dylan, and their work colleagues, is respected during this deeply distressing time.

Further to our announcement yesterday, Perenti provides an update in relation to the incident at the Dugald River underground mine in Cloncurry, Queensland.

Rescue efforts continued overnight as Barminco worked closely with MMG and relevant authorities to undertake and progress the search and rescue operation.

The rescue team have employed the use of drones, void scanning technology and video imagery and this has enabled them to locate the light vehicle that we believe the two missing employees were driving.

The rescue team have been working throughout the night including with the use of heavy underground mining equipment to gain access to the vehicle.

Managing Director & CEO of Perenti, Mr Norwell, said the highly skilled mine rescue team is focused on executing the rescue operation as quickly and safely as possible.

“While the situation is still evolving, we are in contact with the family members of our missing team members and Perenti is providing support to their colleagues and rescue team.

“Everyone at Perenti is feeling the impact of this incident and whilst we hold deep concerns for the safety of our colleagues, we continue to be hopeful that a positive outcome can be achieved.”

We will provide further updates as relevant information becomes available.

Incident at Dugald River

15 February 1730 AWST

Further to the announcement made this morning, Perenti provides an update in relation to the incident that occurred earlier today at the Dugald River underground mine in Queensland.Unfortunately, two Barminco employees remain unaccounted for and the site emergency response team has been activated. Barminco is working closely with MMG and relevant authorities to undertake the search and rescue operation.

We can confirm the following:

• Three of our employees were involved in an incident, approximately 125 meters below surface.
• Two separate vehicles, a light vehicle and a drill rig fell into a void in a previously filled stope.
• One of the employees, a drill rig operator, has been rescued and received medical attention for minor, non-life threatening injuries.
• We believe the two missing Barminco employees remain 125 meters below the surface and we are using drone technology to understand the specific conditions of the area. This will enable us to ensure the safety of the emergency rescue team.
• This drone is fitted with technology that can capture video and data regarding the size of the cavity where the light vehicle is located.
• The rescue will commence post analysis of the data and in accordance with a rescue management plan.

Managing Director & CEO of Perenti, Mr Norwell, said the highly skilled mine rescue team is focused on executing a rescue operation as quickly and safely as possible.

“Our teams have been operating MMG’s Dugald River mine since 2012 with much of our workforce residing in the local area.  I know that a large proportion of the local Cloncurry community either work at the site or know someone who works at the site.  My thoughts are with the families and friends of our two missing colleagues, and with the Cloncurry community.”

“Everyone at Perenti is feeling the impact of this incident and we continue to be hopeful that a positive outcome can be achieved. While the situation is still evolving, Perenti is also providing support to family members and colleagues of our missing team members. We will provide further updates as relevant information becomes available.”

Perenti’s Barminco, Newtrax and Sandvik are partnering to develop a new technology-led solution that improves the safety of pedestrians working near heavy vehicles (HVs) underground.

Between 2008 and 2018, there were 12 fatalities that involved HVs in the underground mining industry in Western Australia. Seven of those deaths were pedestrians.

This statistic is a reminder that these mining machines – that weigh a minimum of 4.5 tonnes and operate in areas of poor visibility – are a significant risk factor for people who work in close proximity to them in an underground environment.

As one of the world’s leading underground mining contractors, Barminco currently operates 25 projects in seven countries and employs more than 5,600 people. Almost all of these employees will be exposed to a working HV during their career. In fact, every hour of every day of the year, there are approximately 2,000 Barminco employees working underground interacting with heavy vehicles.

Barminco’s scale and underground mining expertise, combined with Newtrax’s leading-edge capability to develop collision avoidance systems and the high penetration of Sandvik HVs featuring advanced controls, means this partnership is uniquely positioned to understand how people and equipment interact in underground mines.

Newtrax has developed a collision avoidance system that links “intelligent” cap lamps to the warning system inside the cab of an underground HV. The system provides the vehicle operator with virtual visibility of any pedestrians in the immediate area of their vehicle, along with an escalated warning system to both the pedestrian and operator as the distance between them reduces. This escalation transitions from warning to vehicle intervention, where the HV automatically reduces speed and comes to a controlled stop, when the system senses any pedestrian wearing an intelligent cap lamp in the high-risk zone.

Under the partnership, Newtrax will deploy its next-generation Level 9 Collision Avoidance System across Barminco’s Sandvik fleet, including the supply of intelligent cap lamps with advanced electronic safety features to Barminco’s underground mines. The technology is due to undergo initial testing at one of Barminco’s underground sites in January 2022.

Paul Muller, Perenti Chief Executive Officer, Mining, said the focus of the project was twofold – the safety of its people and the sustainable adoption of the technology industry-wide. 

“The exposure of pedestrians to heavy vehicles underground is a significant risk not just for us, but for everyone involved in the underground mining industry,” Mr Muller said.

“The combination of Newtrax’s technology, our underground operating experience and Sandvik’s role in supplying heavy mining vehicles can put us in a position to offer the entire industry a smart solution to a complex problem.”

Simon Waghorn, Newtrax Regional Vice President – APAC, said the collaboration with Barminco would provide the partners with real-world experience that would help optimise the system as it develops.

“Although the Newtrax Collision Avoidance System is the best available system on the market, many more enhancements are required to accelerate adoption,” Waghorn said. “This partnership with Barminco, a world-class underground hard rock mining contractor, will enable collaborative product development which will result in an even better product for the industry.”

“Barminco is a very important customer for Sandvik and we are pleased to take on the challenge to develop and deliver the industry-leading intervention controllers, to enable slow-to-stop control of the equipment in Barminco’s fleet,” said Wayne Scrivens, Vice President – Sales Area APAC, Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions.