Aberdeen-based oil and engineering giant Wood plc said it won a contract to help expand the Tasiast gold mine in Mauritania, West Africa.

Wood said it will provide engineering, procurement and construction management services to Kinross Gold Corporation for the phase two expansion of the Tasiast gold mine.

“The award follows Wood’s early involvement in the project executing the feasibility study for the phase two expansion and reinforces the company’s longstanding global leadership in the development of gold mines,” said Wood.

“The project is expected to increase mill capacity to 30,000 tonnes per day (t/d) to produce an average of approximately 812,000 gold ounces (Au oz.) per year for the first five years, and is Kinross Gold’s second of a planned two-phase expansion.

“Wood’s scope of work includes engineering, procurement and construction management for the addition of a new downstream processing plant fed by milled product from the semi-autogenous grinding mill installed during the initial expansion. Commercial production for Phase Two is expected in Q3 2020.”

Bob MacDonald, CEO of Wood’s Specialist Technical Solutions business, said: “Winning this contract is a testament to our extensive international gold expertise and ability to work across all phases of a project to support our customers globally.

“We look forward to continuing our growing partnership with Kinross Gold on this important project for Mauritania’s mining industry.”

Wood said that over the past three decades, its mining and minerals business has delivered more than 125 gold projects globally for customers in the industry.

“This includes the current EPC contract for the Gruyere Gold project, one of the largest undeveloped gold deposits in Australia,” said Wood.