Ann: NRW Awarded BHP South Flank Contract, page-10

Maybe there was a news leak?
Rumours are one thing but if word had got out early wouldn’t they have been legally obliged to put the trading halt in place? ..or maybe elimb is right and it was a requirement of BHP?

Apart from that I wanted to acknowledge your previous comments/predictions that, in a climate of increased sector health, the longer companies wait the higher their costs will potentially be .
According to this story you were spot on
Cheers
https://www.copyright link/business...tle-with-brazilian-rival-vale-20180724-h133o8
Here’s the relevant bit:
....
Cost inflation
South Flank will back onto BHP's existing Mining Area C to create a combined 145 million-tonnes-a-year infrastructure hub.

The new mine will have a 196-square-kilometre footprint, with a 23-kilometre-long overland conveyer system linking it to the infrastructure hub.


Mr Henry acknowledged inflationary pressures on the project linked to the east coast infrastructure boom and other mining developments in WA's Pilbara, where Andrew Forrest's Fortescue Metals Group has approved its $US1.27 billion Eliwana mine and Rio Tinto is expected to tick off its $US2.2 billion Koodaideri project before the end of the year.

"We are seeing bit of inflation in cost of service and cost of some skilled labour, but all of this is something we have anticipated to an extent, so it is built into estimates we have around the project," he said.

South Flank was previously expected to cost between $US2.6 billion and $US3.2 billion, but BHP flagged in February that cost would be about $US3.6 billion.

BHP committed to about 85 per cent of project expenditure being allocated to companies based in Australia and the vast majority to WA companies as part of a deal with the state government, which helped fast track approvals.


More than 80 per cent of contracts valued at $456 million awarded to the end of last month had gone to WA companies and last week Perth-based NRW Holdings won a $176 million contract for bulk earthworks.