Under the mining services contract, Macmahon will provide and operate a mining fleet to carry out ore mining, overburden removal, pit backfill and land recontouring.

The deal contains a term sheet outlining an alliancing-style commercial framework linked to cost and performance targets.

Macmahon will mine Coburn at a rate of 23.4 million tonnes per annum via openpit dry mining in free-dig sand, with in-pit tailings deposition, progressive backfill and rehabilitation.

Coburn's definitive feasibility study envisages a pre-tax net profit value of A$551 million, an internal rate of return of 32% and life-of-mine EBITDA of A$1.9 billion over an initial 22.5 years.