Buru Rehab has won a second major contract for rehabilitation of the Ellendale diamond mine, taking the total cost of the project to nearly $130 million. The new two-year contract, signed last month, is for a value of $57.7 million. It follows a $59.1 million contract signed in 2023, for earthworks to stabilise the abandoned mine site.
The new Ellendale contract was awarded after a restricted tender for Indigenous businesses with experience in rehabilitation earthworks in northern Australia. Director and co-owner Ben Latimore said the business has achieved “quite significant growth”. “Central to our success has been our approach to indigenous engagement,” he said. “It is focused on genuine outcomes for traditional owners. Its heavily tailored to what the local indigenous people want and where they are at in their journey.”
At Ellendale, for instance, 30 indigenous people have participated in Buru’s training program and 70 certificates of attainment have been awarded. Mr Latimore said this was led by local trainers and local traditional owners. Its engagement includes hiring equipment from local traditional owner businesses. Buru Rehab has 85 employees, with 45 per cent of the total being indigenous. Among on-the-ground operators, the figure rises to 62 per cent. It also has 24 per cent female employees. “We haven’t seen that achieved in many other places”
Buru’s new contract at Ellendale entails rehabilitation earthworks over some 148 hectares, along with management of a 30-person camp, access roads and a remote airstrip.
More than 2.2 million cubic metres of material will be reprofiled to achieve stable and non-polluting landforms. Stage 1 included installation of 5.4 km of safety bunds around the pit voids to prevent inadvertent access, rehabilitation of 207 hectares of disturbed land, and relocation of 730,000 cubic metres of low-grade material from the surface of a tailings facility to improve its stability and longevity.
A Department of Mines, Petroleum and Exploration spokesperson said technical studies currently underway will inform decisions on any future works following completion of the stage 2 contract. The works are being funded by the Mine Rehabilitation Fund, after the mine’s former owner collapsed. The Fund has a balance of $356 million as of 30 June 2025. It received $46.9 million in levy revenue (paid by mining companies) and $15.7 million in interest last year.
As of 30 June 2025, around $55 million had been spent on the Ellendale project, including a contract for deconstruction of mine infrastructure and part of Buru’s stage 1 rehabilitation contract. Completion of the stage 1 works this year and spending on the stage 2 contract over the next two years will take the total spend to about $130 million.