Caravel Minerals Ltd has announced the award of the EPCM contract to Primero Group Ltd, a subsidiary of NRW Holdings Ltd, to undertake the study for the Caravel Copper Project, located 150 km northeast of Perth in Western Australia’s Wheatbelt.
The contract award follows a rigorous tender process overseen by Caravel’s newly appointed Study Manager, Greg MacDonald. Greg has over 30 years of resources sector project and study delivery experience, having various senior roles in contractor, EPCM and owner’s team environments across major resource projects for Talison Lithium Australia, Iluka, Tronox, BHP and Rio Tinto.
The process involved issuing Requests for Proposals to five pre-qualified firms, with bids evaluated against stringent criteria including copper concentrator experience, regional project expertise, cost
estimating and scheduling accuracy, constructability knowledge, and safety and environmental performance.
Primero’s selection has been based on its technically superior proposal, extensive Perth-based project delivery, commercial flexibility, and the potential to leverage NRW Holdings’ broader capabilities in mining, earthworks, commissioning, and operations/maintenance. The study is scheduled to commence on 1 September 2025 and complete by Q1 2026, providing key inputs into the overall DFS, which is expected to be released in approximately mid-2026.
The study is an important input to the DFS and advances the Caravel Copper Project towards a Final Investment Decision. The scope includes engineering design, cost estimating, constructability assessments and execution planning/scheduling for the overall project scope, including the mine, processing plant, tailings management facility, water supply and non-process infrastructure. The A$15 million funding agreement with Regal Royalty Fund, with the drawdown completed on 31 July 2025, provides essential funding to support the overall DFS.
Primero brings extensive expertise to the Project, demonstrated by its current work at Northern Star Resources Ltd for the design and construction of process plant facilities at the KCGM Growth Project. That project, centred on the Fimiston Processing Plant, will increase processing capacity from 13 Mt/y to 27 Mt/y. The scale of the KCGM project is directly comparable to Caravel’s proposed 30 Mt/y processing plant, and underscores Primero’s capability to deliver high-quality outcomes for the Caravel Copper Project in Western Australia’s Wheatbelt region.
Managing Director Don Hyma commented: “The appointment of Primero represents a significant decision for the project, not only for the DFS but also for the following implementation phase. The tender process was professionally overseen by our Study Manager Greg MacDonald, to ensure we selected a partner with proven expertise in Western Australian mineral processing and construction. The recently announced funding agreement with Regal Royalty Fund paves the way for Caravel to complete a well-defined, high quality DFS, leading into Front End Engineering Design and a Financial Investment Decision. Primero will work closely with Caravel to maximise the Project’s unique benefit of its proximity to Perth and the excellent access to skills and extensive workforce available in WA.”
The mine plan for the Caravel Copper Project is based on an owner-operator model due to the project’s long mine life of +25 years and the opportunity to utilise technologies such as automation and electric drives that are not currently available with contract mining.
The mine method will be a conventional open-pit bulk mining operation, using RC grade control drilling and autonomous platform rigs for blast hole drilling. Load and haul is based on manned electric shovels and backhoes loading autonomous diesel-electric trucks using trolley assist for grid powered electric drive on ramps and long hauls for both ore and waste.
