BHP’s Copper SA business has signed two contracts worth a combined $156 million dollars over five years, with Indigenous-owned businesses Intract Australia, Zancott Knight and Platinum Civil Constructions.

Intract, who has 50 per cent Indigenous employment at BHP's Olympic Dam, has been awarded a contract worth $96 million over five years for industrial cleaning at the site. This is the largest ever standalone contract BHP has signed with a Traditional Owner or Indigenous-owned business in Australia.

Zancott Knight, an Arabana-owned business, together with Platinum Civil construction, an Indigenous-owned business with 65 per cent female employment, have been jointly awarded the ad-hoc civil contract for $60 million. Seamer Civil and Ngurra, two Arabana businesses, are also included as subcontractors.

This forms part of the commitment BHP made in its sixth Reconciliation Action Plan, which was released in June this year, to achieve A$1.5 billion of spend for procurement from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Traditional Owned Businesses by mid-2027 across Australia. 

Marking the important milestone, Acting Asset President Copper SA, Jenny Purdie said “We know these sorts of contracts create significant opportunities for Indigenous businesses, and shared benefits for BHP and local communities."

“It has been fantastic to see the results of these efforts, with continued growth in the scope, scale and impact of BHP’s Indigenous procurement spend in South Australia."

John Briggs, Chief Executive Officer of Intract Australia, said the new contract with BHP will increase the company's site-based workforce to 40 FTEs and provide further opportunities to provide meaningful employment, create career pathways, and execute development and training for Indigenous people.

“Our vision when we started Intract was to form a business that would not only open doors for Indigenous training and development, but deliver stable and long-term employment for Indigenous people in contracting services across the mining, civil, and construction industries" he said. 

Kiara Johnson, Managing Director of Platinum Civil Constructions, reflected on the work she has done to grow Platinum since starting the business in 2011. 

“Working with BHP has provided Platinum with the opportunity to rapidly grow from a small to a medium sized business in less than three years, and provide jobs and training opportunities to regional South Australians." she said.

“I was born and raised in regional South Australia, and through a lot of hard work I have been able to build Platinum to what it is today, with BHP’s support. Platinum is extremely focused on providing jobs to women and Aboriginal people, and encouraging more regional female entrepreneurs such as myself to understand that they can do it too."

Cameron Buzzacott, Managing Director of Zancott Knight, said “I know how important it is to drive economic empowerment and job creation for our people on Country. We actively seek to share our success by providing long-term employment opportunities for Indigenous employees, forming strategic partnerships with other Indigenous businesses, and reinvesting in our local communities.

“Reinforcing our core values, this contract with BHP affords Zancott Knight the opportunity to truly make a positive impact within the local region. We are excited and eager to see what we can achieve over the next five years with BHP."