Underground mining contractor PYBAR has won the contract to develop and mine Ramelius Resources’ Vivien gold project.
The contract will start in January with a peak workforce of 49 people.
The mine, 15km west of Leinster in Western Australia, was recently bought by Ramelius from Agnew Gold Mining Company.
A feasibility study showed it would cost $20 million to develop the Vivien mine.
The project is expected to produce 109,000 ounces over an initial 30-month mine life.
The company said the underground mine would take eight months to build and have an all-in operating costs of $890 per ounce.
PYBAR chief Paul Rouse said he was delighted to have won the Vivien contract.
“We achieved this in an extremely competitive environment on the back of our ability to demonstrate flexibility, scale and safe performance,” Rouse said.
“Our track record proves that there is room to reset performance benchmarks and to deliver value by doing more with less and without compromising safety and quality, which is absolutely critical in today’s market.”
The Vivien announcement follows the extension of PYBAR’s contract at Saracen’s Red October gold mine, also in WA.
The two year extension will see PYBAR continue development and production at the mine until June 2016.