The deal was backed by Helmsman Capital fund and a joint venture of Macquarie Bank and McGrath Nicol & Partners.

The new entity, Walter Mining, started operating on April 15 with no assumption of debt carried over from its former owner Walter Construction Group, currently in liquidation.

The workforce of around 400 is largely intact and all employee entitlements, such as accrued annual and long service leave, have been brought across to the new entity.

Garry Ash, managing director of the new company, said it had been pleasing to see the levels of support for the management buy-out, from employees throughout the organisation, through to mining unions and clients.

The company currently has around $A50 million of work in hand which Ash hopes to swell to close to $A80 million over the next two to three years. The company will also look to spread its exposure beyond its mainstay of coal to include other areas such as base metals. Walter Mining also owns a roadheader fleet which it plans to market to mining companies for drivage development or tunnelling applications.

Jobs that Walter Mining currently has, mostly long-term in nature, include place change drivage at Anglo Coal's Moranbah North mine in Queensland; roadway drivage at BHP Billiton's Dendrobium mine in NSW; general contracting at BHPB's Westcliff mine; and conveyor installation work for Continental Conveyor & Equipment at Tahmoor and Mandalong, both Centennial-owned. Walter has also installed conveyors at Xstrata Coal's Beltana mine, and is improving old roadways at the company's Baal Bone operation, and has a contract with Peabody Energy mine North Goonyella for roadway support.

Ash said one thing Walter Mining was going to look to in the future was working with clients to change how contracts were written and awarded, particularly with risk-sharing models.

"In the past, some contracts have been very onerous. We're heading towards and comfortable with taking a share of the risk when we can manage and control that risk. We have been moving in that direction for some time now so that we have a more equitable sharing of risk and of the upside and downside spin-offs," he said.

In addition to Ash, the senior management team consists of Peter Roberts, business development manager; Wayne Bull, national operations manager; Mick Dubois, NSW operations manager; Darren Abraham, Queensland operations manager; Andrew Hobden, chief financial officer; Brian Whichelo, environment health and safety manager; Michael Jones, engineering/risk manager.