Pilbara Minerals Limited announced that it has awarded the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for its Pilgangoora Lithium-Tantalum Project in WA to RCR Tomlinson Ltd. Finalisation of the EPC contract for the 2 million tonne per annum lithium-tantalum plant puts Pilbara on track to commission Pilgangoora in the December quarter of this year. The contract contains an incentivised target cost of AUD 138 million with a guaranteed maximum price of AUD 148 million. These figures are comfortably in line with the estimates contained in the project's Definitive Feasibility Study (+/-15%). The EPC contract has been awarded in two stages with the initial Stage 1 being a two month FEED (Front-End Engineering and Design) program, which will determine the final scope of work, timeline and target price (eliminating or reducing risk items identified in the tender). However, this process is expected to have no impact on the overall AUD 148 million guaranteed maximum price contained in the EPC contract. Pilbara's total commitment for Stage 1 is fixed at approximately AUD 10.3 million. Once project funding has been secured, a final investment decision made by the Pilbara Board and Stage 1 satisfactorily completed, Pilbara has the option but not the obligation to commit to the Stage 2 construction, which is for the balance of the contract price and planned to commence in May 2017. For Pilgangoora, RCR has chosen sub-contractors Primero and Minnovo to provided technical and engineering support. Both have experience in the engineering and process design sectors.