Leighton Holdings Ltd subsidiary HWE Mining Pty Ltd has won a $344 million contract with mining giant Rio Tinto Ltd to provide mine development services at the Mesa A iron ore operation in the Pilbara.

It is the first major contract HWE Mining has been awarded by Rio Tinto Iron Ore, and involves the design and building of an ore handling and train loading plant, and linked infrastructure.

HWE will also carry out pre-strip work to establish the Mesa A operation at the site 50 kilometres from Pannawonica in Western Australia, by late 2009.

Craig Laslett, Executive General Manager of Leighton Contractors Mining Division, said the project would provide HWE Mining with a platform from which it hoped to win further work from Rio Tinto.

On stream, the Mesa A mine is planned to produce 25 million tonnes of iron ore per year.