The Beament-led company wanted its underground contracting arm to generate income, allowing it to fund its various mine developments, and just 18 months into the plan, that’s now a reality.
Thanks to a new development contract for Canada’s Karora Resources at the Beta Hunt gold-nickel mine in the Kambalda district of Western Australia, Develop expects to generate revenue of $175 million for FY25.
Karora, which is considering a merger with Ramelius Resources, recently announced plans to develop new mining areas at Fletcher and Western Flanks South, and Develop is only too happy to help out.
Develop is already active in the region, with a team at Mineral Resources’ Mt Marion lithium mine where it has a $46 million contract to establish underground access to deeper resources, and it has its own opportunity at Pioneer Dome following a $153 million all-scrip takeover of Essential Metals last year.
Beament said the company now had a mining services hub in the southern Goldfields that could deliver improved levels of capability, synergies, consumables, spares, equipment, infrastructure and flexibility.
It is also active at the Bellevue gold mine near Leinster, where it has a $400 million underground mining contract that generated $32 million in revenue for the December quarter.
“It has taken just 18 months for our mining services division to meet the key activity, revenue and capability targets we set out in our five-year business plan,” Beament said.
In addition to Pioneer Dome, Develop owns copper-zinc deposits at Sulphur Springs in Western Australia and Woodlawn in New South Wales.
Woodlawn is partially developed and has resources of 445,000t copper equivalent, sufficient to underpin a decade of life.
A new mine plan is being developed, while a scoping study is underway for Pioneer Dome.
Develop ended January with $40 million in cash.