Bill Beament’s Develop Global nabs Beta Hunt underground work as mining services division surges ahead

Develop Global’s agreement to help Karora Resources expand its Beta Hunt underground mine near Kambalda is the latest deal which has helped the Bill Beament-led company’s mining services division achieve key targets in its five-year business plan well ahead of schedule. Develop told the ASX on Thursday it was working on the Fletcher and Western Flanks South development at Beta Hunt, with temporary surface infrastructure construction also starting with the contractor workshop and office buildings. The company said Beta Hunt was 25km from Mineral Resources’ Mt Marion lithium mine where it had a $46 million underground development contract to establish and develop the access to the large lithium resource. Develop said at Mt Marion significant surface works had been undertaken to progress the boxcut excavation and mine services corridor, with surface infrastructure construction to start in the coming weeks, and the first development cut from the underground scheduled to occur in May. The company said Beta Hunt and Mt Marion were less than 100km from Develop’s Pioneer Dome lithium project, meaning it now had a mining services hub in the Kambalda/southern Goldfields region. Develop said it was also generating strong results at the Bellevue gold mine in the northern Goldfields where it had a $400m underground mining contract, with Bellevue Gold recently reporting the project was on time and on budget, and commissioning and ramp-up proceeding to plan. The company said it was expecting to earn $175 million in revenue in the 2024-25 financial year. Develop managing director Mr Beament said it had taken just 18 months for the mining services division to meet the key activity, revenue and capability targets set out in the five-year business plan. “This phenomenal result reflects the strength and capability of the world-class team of highly experienced underground personnel we have built in such a short time,” he said. “The addition of the Beta Hunt work means we now have a hub of activity in WA’s southern Goldfields region. ‘This will bring significant benefits for Develop and our clients in terms of capability, synergies, consumables, spares, equipment, infrastructure and flexibility. “The strong revenue now being generated from the provision of mining services will also be highly valuable as we seek to secure the most attractive funding terms possible to advance our critical minerals assets in Australia.”