FLR Receives Study Contract

Fluor Corporation(FLR - Analyst Report) recently received a contract from Crosslands Resources, an Australian mining company, to conduct a study regarding the feasibility of the Jack Hills Expansion Project located in Western Australia. The contract will be booked in Fluor’s first quarter of fiscal 2013. However, the financial details of the contract were not disclosed.

The iron ore mine located at Jack Hills, operated by Crosslands Resources is owned by the Mitsubishi Development Pty. Ltd.(100% subsidiary of the Mitsubishi Corporation. )

As per the terms of the contract, Fluor will be responsible for analyzing, upgrading and finalizing the initial analysis of the extensive expansion project of Iron Ore Mine conducted by the Strategic Asset Review department of Fluor. The iron mine at Jack Hills currently produces 1.8 million tones of direct shipping iron ore annually. Through this expansion, Mitsubishi expects to produce 61 million tones of feed ore to produce magnetite iron ore concentrate, annually.

FLR is optimistic about this contract and expects it to boost its Metal and Mining business included under its Industrial Infrastructure segment. In the last quarter (fourth quarter 2012), Fluor’s Industrial and Infrastructure segment reported a strong growth in its mining and metals business line, driven by which the segment posted a 26% year over year revenue growth. The market for metals and mining continues to look strong for the upcoming quarters as well, pouring new contracts into Fluor’s net.

Fluor currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A few other industry participants worth considering at this point of time include Tyco International Ltd. (TYC - Analyst Report), Chicago Bridge & Iron Company N.V. (CBI - Analyst Report) and AECOM Technology Corporation(ACM - Snapshot Report) all having a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).