Brierty set for $40m earthworks project

Maddington-based civil contractor Brierty Ltd has signed a letter of intent with iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group for further major earthworks at its port development at Port Hedland in the Pilbara.

Contract documentation is being prepared and is expected to be finalised later this month.

The work is set to begin this month also and is due to be completed in June 2009, with a total value of about $40 million.

Brierty chairman Dalton Gooding said the Port Hedland contract win was a major boost for the company, which had posted a full-year net loss of $1.3 million after downgrading its profit twice in its first year of listing on the stock market.

The company, which floated on the market in December 2007, had said the loss included the one-off listing expense of $5.1 million.

The scope of works to be conducted at Port Hedland includes the construction of new bunds, the widening of the causeway and the relocation of dredge fill for a new stockpile area.

Mr Gooding said the major earthworks project represents a continuation of Brierty's relationship with FMG, with the company already undertaking major earthworks at the port development and previously having constructed 90 kilometres of formation earthworks on the FMG rail project.

"This is further evidence of our ability to deliver quality work, certainty and value for our clients," Mr Gooding said.

In July, Brierty won a $33 million contract to provide services to FMG after reaching an agreement for the stripping of overburden at Fortescue's flagship Cloudbreak mine in the Pilbara.

Brierty previously worked on Fortescue's rail line that connects Cloudbreak to Port Hedland, and undertook major earthworks at Fortescue's Herb Elliott port development.