Australia-based mining services company Macmahon has confirmed finalising a A$1.1bn ($766m) load and haul services contract with Talison Lithium Australia for the latter’s Greenbushes lithium project in Western Australia.

The notice of award for the load and haul mining activities at the lithium project was received by Macmahon from Talison Lithium in November 2022.

Under the terms of the contract, the mining services company will handle open cut mining activities of load and haul and crusher feed.

The contract, which has been awarded for a seven-year period, can be extended for up to two years.

The load and haul services are anticipated to commence on 1 July 2023.

Macmahon CEO and managing director Michael Finnegan said: “We are delighted to finalise this contract with Talison Lithium for its Greenbushes lithium project. This contract will add approximately A$1.1 billion to our order book, which delivers on our commodity diversification strategy into future relevant commodities.

“We have built a strong relationship with the Talison Lithium team and look forward to developing this project with Them.”

The Greenbushes lithium project is located nearly 250km south of Perth within the Shire of Bridgetown-Greenbushes.

The project is being developed by Talison Lithium Australia, which is owned by joint venture (JV) partners Tianqi Lithium and IGO JV and Albemarle.

The lithium mine is undergoing an expansion which is expected to increase the production capacity at the mine to 1.34 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of lithium concentrates.

In November 2022, Talison Lithium awarded a A$300m ($209m) contract to Action Drill & Blast, a fully-owned subsidiary of NRW, for drill and blast services at the Greenbushes lithium project.