BARMINCO excited to enter North American Mining Market

By Kevin Vincent
When Barrick’s Hemlo management team started planning for an operational reset at their Marathon-based gold mine in northwestern Ontario, nothing was off the table – including a global scan for talent.
Earlier this year, they awarded a major contract to Australian contractor Barminco. As one of the world’s largest underground mining service providers, Barminco is looking to establish a footprint in the Canadian mining industry.
Barminco is owned by Perenti, the second-largest diversified mining services company in Australia. With 30 years’ experience Barminco employs more than 4,300 people at 21 projects in seven countries. The company offers expertise in high speed hard-rock mine development, underground mine production, underground diamond drilling, small diameter vertical development, a modern fleet of equipment, as well as mine design and planning. The majority of Barminco’s work is currently located in Australia and Africa.
The Hemlo contract with Barminco was a perfect match for the mine’s rebirth, according to General Mine Manager Adam Foulstone. “Barrick recognizes the importance of changing the way we operate and committing to a more modern mining methodology to ensure Hemlo’s future profitability,” said Foulstone.
“Barminco is excited to be entering the North American mining market with our first operating contract for Barrick at Hemlo,” said Jim Gawith, Barminco General Manager Growth. “The North American mining market is a key pillar in Barminco’s expansion plans moving forward and we are committed to making our partnership with Barrick a successful one. Barrick at Hemlo have a long and proud operating history in Canada and this is something we recognize and are looking to build upon by integrating into Marathon and working with the local community and local First Nations,” Gawith added.
“We know that bringing in an international contractor may seem out of the ordinary – but the end result is that everyone will benefit from the modern expertise that Barminco brings.” (See Hemlo 2.0 elsewhere in this Mining Life edition).
Barminco has already established relationships with local First nations representatives in an effort to maximize job creation, training, and other benefits.
“We truly look forward to working with the area’s First Nations groups and leaders,” said Gawith.
“Ontario has a number of operating mines that are looking to expand and new mines on the horizon, which is why we believe it to be the ideal location to base ourselves moving forward. It is the ideal platform for Barminco’s mission in North America, which is to provide a mining contracting service that adds enduring value and delivers certainty for mine owners,” said Gawith.
“Barminco is an underground mining organization, for us technology is about increasing the delivery of metres and tonnes, as safely and efficiently as possible”
Technology and innovation are core components of Barminco’s value proposition. “Our ability to discover both internal and external trends, rapidly evaluate concepts and implement initiatives with short interval review cycles are intrinsic to the way we work,” states Gawith.  
This innovation capability helps differentiate Barminco from its competitors, keep pace with or lead technological change and deliver significant value to it’s clients. Barminco acknowledges that innovation can occur anywhere, and this has led to an internal and external collaborative approach to the technology initiatives they undertake on their sites.
The company’s approach to technology includes five key principles: Creating the safest working environment possible; providing people with short interval controls via prescriptive insights; augmenting through automation; converting unplanned to planned; and maximizing machine utilisation.

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