The plant is part of a $US600 million expansion of Tecnimont Chile’s 350-megawatt Bocamina power station in the country’s south.

Sedgman has already started work on the upgrade, which will lift coal handling capacity to 1.4 million tonnes per annum. It expects to finish the job by mid-2010.

The contract involves the design and supply of equipment, site construction and installation and commissioning.

“The upgraded coal yard will include a new stockpiling area, specifically designed stackers and a modern control system to ensure efficient reception of the coal from the nearby port and its subsequent mixing and feeding to the generator boilers,” Sedgman Coal COO Steve van Barneveld said.

The contract will be added to another of Sedgman’s South American successes– the $A6 million contract for the expansion of Colombia’s El Cerrejon coal mine.

The El Cerrejon contract is for design, procurement and construction activities to expand the existing processing plant from 375 tonnes per hour to 500tph.

Sedgman said design work had been completed and it anticipated construction would be finished during a plant shutdown in August this year.

Sedgman managing director Mark Read said the deals were part of the company’s international growth strategy.

“Sedgman is confident of its future growth. Of our $4.3 billion pipeline of targeted opportunities, we are currently involved in over 90% of projects in the one-year timeframe and more than 75% of other projects identified.”

Sedgman closed up 10% at 99c on Thursday.