Thiess wins $570m coal contract Leighton Holdings subsidiary Thiess has won a $570 million four-year contract extension on a coal mine owned by Wesfarmers. The contract extension comes on top of a current 10-year agreement signed in 2010. Thiess would continue activities around improving productivity in overburden removal and coal mining, the company said in a statement. The Wesfarmers-operated Curragh North Coal Mine is located near Blackwater in central Queensland's coking coal-rich Bowen Basin. Leighton chief executive Hamish Tyrwhitt said the announcement was the second mine contract win for Thiess in the Bowen Basin in a month, following its $550 million deal to help with the Lake Vermont mine expansion.