Ravenswood expansion boosts North Queensland businesses

The expansion comes after Ravenswood took ownership of the mine from Resolute last April and has seen the company spend more than $50 million on goods from businesses in Ravenswood, Townsville, Charters Towers and the Burdekin.

The mine has secured a 254-person workforce and is set to bring on an additional 60 permanent roles and more than 100 construction jobs this year.

Ravenswood Gold general manager of operations Dave Mackay said the company always aims to support local North Queensland businesses and there will be more purchases to come.

“North Queensland has a lot to offer in terms of technical skills, goods and services to support the region’s resource industry and in turn, the benefits of the mine’s expansion will pay back into the region and the state,” Mackay said.

“Our local workforce of over 250 people and collaboration with almost 370 businesses in the region helps to strengthen the project and improve resilience in these uncertain COVID-19 times.”

One of the businesses is Thomas Steel, from which Ravenswood has secured steel fabrication, concreting, equipment hire and servicing, engineering, surveying, environmental support, tradespeople and a local coffee roaster from.

Thomas Steel general manager Domenic Corradini said these services include a contract worth more than $10 million to fabricate part of the processing plant’s leaching facilities.

“This contract is the perfect test for our expanded, new Bohle operation and it further cements our credentials as a leading structural steel fabricator in North Queensland,” Corradini said.

“We’ve been able to further secure the employment of our 150-plus workforce and we’ve increased our Townsville workforce by 20 per cent to help us to meet demand.”

Queensland Minister for Resources Scott Stewart said North Queensland’s supply chain would continue to benefit from growing mining projects in the region, including Ravenswood.

“The Ravenswood gold project is a gold standard of the positive economic contribution a mine can bring to the regions,” Stewart said.

“It’s this style of collaboration, innovation and hard work demonstrated by the North Queensland business community, which will help lead Queensland’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Things are looking up with more than $50 million expected to be spent in 2021 as open pit mining ramps up (at Ravenswood) and expansion development continues.”