From award to first claim: the mobilisation guide

Mobilisation is everything between signing a mining contract and being paid for it: floating plant to site, flights, camp, inductions, fuel, site establishment and the first weeks of wages, all going out before the first progress claim is certified and paid on 30 to 60 day terms. On a 12 month, $1,800,000 contract that is commonly $400,000 or more, around 22% of the contract value, out the door before a dollar comes in, over a period of 60 to 100 days. Contractors fund it with an overdraft, an equipment-backed line, or invoice finance that starts at the first certified claim, sized to the contract rather than to a rule of thumb.

This guide is for WA drilling, earthmoving, civil, crushing, haulage and maintenance contractors, and the subcontractors under them, at the moment they win work. It walks the timeline from award to first payment, costs each stage, and ends with how the funding is assessed, because that is what we do for this industry.

The timeline, stage by stage

Award. The contract is signed, the schedule of rates and payment terms are fixed, and the start date is set. Everything that follows is a cost until the first certified claim is paid, so the terms agreed here decide the size of the gap: the claim frequency, the certification process, the payment days, the retention percentage, and whether a mobilisation fee or an early claim is allowed.

Mobilisation, commonly 2 to 6 weeks. Plant is floated to site, often hundreds of kilometres. Crews are inducted, medically cleared, flown and housed. Fuel, consumables and ground engaging tools are stocked. Site establishment, from laydown to comms to safety systems, is built. Wages start the day people start, whether or not the site is productive yet. If new plant is needed for the job, the equipment finance has to settle before the float date, which is a lead time contractors regularly underestimate.

First claim period. The crew works to month end. Daily dockets, plant hours and quantities are recorded, because the claim is only as good as its evidence. The claim is issued against the schedule of rates.

Certification, commonly 1 to 2 weeks. The client's superintendent assesses the claim and certifies what they accept. Retention, commonly 5% to 10%, is deducted. Queried quantities or thin records push this out.

Payment, 30 to 60 days after month end or certification. The first money arrives. By now the business has carried mobilisation plus 2 to 3 months of running costs.

A worked example: the $1,800,000 Pilbara contract

The figures are an illustrative pattern, not a quote. Take a 12 month earthmoving contract worth $1,800,000, billed monthly at $150,000, with costs at 70% of revenue, a 4 week mobilisation, monthly claims certified in 2 weeks and paid 45 days after month end.

• Direct mobilisation costs: $140,000. Floats for 4 machines, flights and camp for a 9 person crew, inductions, site establishment, initial fuel and consumables.
• Running costs before the first payment: $260,000. About $105,000 a month in wages, fuel and plant, carried for roughly 2.5 months from the start of work to the day month 1 is paid.
• Total out before the first dollar in: $400,000. 22% of the contract's value, over roughly 90 days from award.
• Retention held from month 1: $7,500 at 5%, and every month after, reaching $90,000 by the end of the contract.
• First payment: $142,500, which is the $150,000 claim less 5% retention, landing about day 90. The gap does not close; it becomes a steady 10 weeks of costs the business carries for the life of the contract.

Win a second contract of the same size in month 4 and the $400,000 is needed again, on top of the 10 weeks of costs already being carried. This is why growth in mining services feels like a squeeze rather than a windfall: profitable from the first month on paper, and short of cash until the third.

How the gap is funded

A business overdraft for the general timing gap, drawn and repaid as claims land. Simple and fast, but the limit is set on the business's history and security rather than on the new contract, so it rarely scales with a big win. See business overdraft.

An equipment-backed line. Plant you own outright is capital sitting in the yard. A facility secured against it releases that capital for mobilisation without touching the receivables, and it is often the cleanest funding for the front loaded costs that arrive before there is any claim to finance. The equipment side, including buying out hired gear and master facilities for operators who buy often, is on mining and civil equipment finance.

Invoice finance from the first certified claim. Once month 1 is certified, the financier advances most of it, commonly around 80%, within days, and the facility grows with the contract. It does not fund the mobilisation itself, because there is no claim yet, but it closes the gap from the first certification onward and it is the tool that lets a second contract be taken on without restarting the whole squeeze. The detail, including what claims are excluded, is on invoice finance for mining contractors and in our guide to progress claims and retention.

On most files it is 2 of these together: the equipment line or overdraft for the mobilisation and the surprises, and the claim facility for the flow. Sized from the contract's own payment terms, not from a rule of thumb, and arranged alongside any new plant so the whole structure settles before the float date. That is the shape we build on mining services finance files: the machine, the mobilisation and the working capital designed together.

Price it in at tender

The cheapest place to fix mobilisation is the tender. Price the mobilisation costs explicitly. Ask for a mobilisation fee or an early first claim where the client allows it; many major miners will, and many contractors never ask. Negotiate the payment days before signing, because 30 days from certification and 60 days from month end are a month apart on the same contract. Check the retention percentage and the release triggers. Read the assignment and set off clauses, because they decide whether the claims can be financed at all. Know, before you submit, how the 60 to 100 day gap will be funded, so the contract you win is one the business can carry.

What lenders assess on a contract win

Four things carry most of the weight: the signed contract and its terms, the strength of the counterparty paying you, the assets on offer as security, and the trading history and cash flow of the business. A signed schedule of rates with a major miner or a tier 1 contractor reads very differently from a tender or a letter of intent. A clean history of certified claims strengthens every future application. The strongest files present the equipment, the mobilisation and the working capital as one structure rather than 3 separate requests, which is how we assemble them: the way the credit team approving it will read it.

Just won work, or about to tender for it?

Our free mining cash flow check takes 2 minutes and covers mobilisation cover alongside the other 7 pressures on contractor cash flow: slow claims, retention, breakdowns, rental drag, growth, ATO quarters and counterparty concentration. Tick what sounds familiar and we come back with a straight read on what the contract will need and how to fund it. If you would rather talk it through, contact us or call 0483 292 005.

Your mining services finance specialist

Rowan Edwards, co-founder. Rowan is a former commercial banker and Credit Representative 579182, and he runs Rockwall's mining services finance work personally. He works the contract-win moment as one structure: the machine, the mobilisation and the working capital designed together and settled before the float date, sized from the contract's own payment terms. More on the team.

Frequently asked questions

General information only, current at 2 September 2026. Contract values, costs, percentages and timelines in this guide are illustrative patterns, not quotes, and every contract's terms are different. It does not take your circumstances into account and it is not legal or accounting advice. Have your contract reviewed by your solicitor before you sign.