MELBOURNE--Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (JEC)--the engineering,
procurement and construction management contractor for BHP Billiton
Ltd.'s (BHP) multi-billion dollar project to expand its Olympic Dam
copper-gold mine in Australia--has laid off several workers after
its contract expired, the Australian Financial Review reported
Tuesday.
The newspaper said the company completed a final feasibility
study on the expansion project in May and had been retained to help
refine the study and a submission to the board of BHP Billiton
outlining the economics of the business case for approving the
project.
It reported that retaining Jacobs could no longer be justified
pending the board decision, which BHP Billiton Chief Executive
Marius Kloppers recently indicated may not receive board approval
before December.
A spokeswoman for the Australian unit of Jacobs said it is
company policy not to discuss specific projects or clients.
Spokespeople for BHP Billiton weren't immediately available to
comment.
Newspaper website: http://www.afr.com
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