The market has heated up for summer, with more than $3 billion of new major projects identified for the latest edition of WA Works’ major projects list, published by CCIWA exclusively for subscribers.
After a rare lull last quarter, iron ore has bounced back following the approval of Rio Tinto’s $1.1 billion Western Turner Syncline phase two project that will start construction this quarter.
Part of Rio Tinto’s multi-billion-dollar investments in new mines to sustain its Pilbara production, Western Turner is expected to require 1000 construction workers.
Nearly half of these jobs will be generated by engineering contractor Mondium – a joint venture between Perth companies Monadelphous and Lycopodium – which has won a $400 million design and construction contract.
Aside from iron ore, the other notable feature for the new list is the debut of two downstream mineral projects: Lynas Corporation’s $500 million Kalgoorlie Cracking and Leaching plant and FYI Resources’ $260m High Purity Alumina (HPA) plant.
Both are driven by the rising demand for purified mineral products suitable for high-tech applications such as robotics, weapons systems, smart phones, LED lighting, electric vehicle batteries and wind turbines.
Meanwhile, the cover story for this issue is an exclusive 14-page New Age of Energy feature, which explores the opportunities and challenges presented by the rise of renewable power and electricity “microgrids”.
Other highlights of the summer edition include:
- A wide-ranging interview with Multiplex regional managing director Chris Palandri, who explains why the company is thriving in a tough city construction market;
- One of WA’s big steel fabricators celebrates its 50th birthday by expanding its Naval Base workshop to cater for bigger mining jobs.
- A defence feature blows away some myths about the Navy’s Attack class submarine program and explains, ‘Where to from here for the Collins Class?’
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