A recent agreement has secured WA jobs in many trades for a number of years, with one group scoring a billion dollar contract to build large parts of a massive mine.

Perth-based engineering, procurement and construction firm Forge Group has entered into a partnership with Spanish contractor Duro Felguera to build the processing facility at the Roy Hill Iron Ore project near Newman in Western Australia.

The scope of the $1.47 billion deal is almost as big as the figure; the joint venture partners will put together a 55-megaton per annum iron ore processing plant including all detailed structural earthworks, foundations, steelwork, mechanical equipment, plate-work, piping, electrical equipment, instrumentation and controls, cabling, conveyors and in-plant roads.

The contract is part of a larger $5.59 billion project to build the mine, port infrastructure and a 344-kilometre railway to Port Hedland.

Construction is set to start up in December, at its peak it will see 1300 people working on-site. The project is set to last around 20 months, with employer Forge saying it is excellent to be able to put so many to work.

“Roy Hill is Forge Group’s largest single contract to date, and is a clear indication of our growing reputation as an EPC contractor with the capacity and capability to undertake projects of world-class scale,” managing director David Simpson said.