WestStar Industrial (ASX:WSI) is one small cap mining services player to benefit from the renewed push for expansion by the majors in the Pilbara.

The company revealed today that it had nabbed a $10m contract to supply and install the electrical communications and dry fire systems for Fortescue Metals Group’s (ASX:FMG) 800-room mine camp at its new Eliwana iron ore mine.

It is WestStar subsidiary SIMPEC’s largest single contract award so far.

The news sent WestStar shares up over 17 per cent to 2.7c on Wednesday.

The latest contract win boosts the company’s order book total to $43m so far for FY19.

SIMPEC has submitted further tenders for more than $150m worth of work.

Private mining contractor BGC Contracting has also been handed a $24m contract to deliver bulk earthworks and roads at the $1.7 billion Eliwana mine.

The projects just keep coming for the majors, with Fortescue also giving the green light to its $3.6b Iron Bridge project in the Pilbara in early April. That is two major projects to be approved by Fortescue in the past year — a sure sign things are picking up.

Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO), meanwhile, is sinking $3.5 billion into its Koodaideri iron ore project, which is set to become the heavyweight’s next major Pilbara hub.

WestStar chief Robert Spadanuda told Stockhead the company is expecting more contract awards in the near-term.

“Because of our ability and balance sheet now, and we’ve raised a whole pile of capital in recent times, it gives us the ability to have a stronger balance sheet to tender more works,” he said.

And the work is mostly with the big guys.

“The names are pretty serious — there’s BHP, there’s Rio, there’s indirectly FMG,” he said.

“So those names are very typical of the future tender awards that we’ve been working on.”

WestStar, which has a market cap of just under $12m, reported a new record of $5.8m for cash receipts in the March quarter.

The company booked a further $2.1m immediately following the period-end.

WestStar also had cash in the bank of $1.1m.

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