BHP awards new Spence project contract

Global mining giant BHP has awarded an engineering, procurement and construction contract for its Spence Growth Option (SGO) copper project in Chile to a 50:50 JV between the local subsidiaries of Peru's Graña y Montero and the UK's Amec Foster Wheeler.

The Vertical Work Package No. 1 (VWP1) EPC contract is for the construction and assembly of a crushing plant, as well as material transport facilities.

The contract is valued at US$132mn and due for completion in January 2020, Graña y Montero said in a press release.

The contract is the second awarded by BHP in 10 days in relation to SGO. On September 25 the company awarded an EPC contract for construction of a 95,000t/d concentrator plant to a 50:50 JV between Fluor and SalfaCorp.

The board of BHP gave its approval for construction of the US$2.46bn project in August, which also includes a desalination plant and a 154km pipeline. Both the mining and desalination components have already secured their respective environmental permits.

Melbourne-based BHP has said that in the first 10 years of operations, production from SGO will be approximately 185,000t/y of copper in concentrate and 4,000t/y of payable molybdenum, with first production expected in the 2021 financial year, which runs until June 30, 2022.