Macmahon’s A$792m Byerwen contract: load–haul implications for mine planners
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell

First reported on International Mining – News
30 Second Briefing
Macmahon Holdings has executed a three-year, A$792 million contract to continue open cut mining services at QCoal’s Byerwen coking coal mine in Queensland’s Bowen Basin. The scope covers load-and-haul operations and crusher feed across the existing pits, extending Macmahon’s current role on site beyond the initial Notice of Award announced to the ASX on 10 April 2025. For mine planners and contractors, the deal signals sustained large-scale truck–shovel and processing interface work at one of the region’s key hard coking coal producers.
Technical Brief
- Existing site familiarity should reduce ramp‑up time for any revised mine sequences or pit expansions.
Our Take
Within our 345 Mining stories, only a handful of items are tagged to coking coal, so a large contract at the Byerwen mine in Queensland’s Bowen Basin stands out against a recent tilt in coverage towards base metals and critical minerals.
Macmahon Holdings’ A$792 million, three‑year scope at Byerwen suggests a high concentration of contractor exposure to a single Australian coking coal asset, which could materially influence its order book risk profile compared with peers more weighted to iron ore or gold projects.
The April 2025 ASX Notice of Award timing means this Byerwen work was locked in well before several late‑2025 equity raisings in our database, indicating that established contractors in Australia are still securing sizeable coal contracts even as new capital on the ASX is more often directed to copper and multi‑metal plays such as BMC Minerals.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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