Industry
Mining Services Finance WA
A contract win creates 3 funding needs at once: the gear, the mobilisation and the working capital to carry the job until the claims are paid. We arrange all 3 as one structure for drilling, earthmoving, maintenance and haulage contractors across WA.
- Founded by two former bankers
- Commercial and business finance specialists
- Perth based, working Australia wide
- MFAA member
Mining services finance is the funding a contracting business needs to win and deliver site work: equipment for the job, mobilisation money for the costs that land before the first claim is paid, and working capital against 30 to 60 day payment terms. The trigger is almost always a contract win, and the finance has to move at the speed of the contract. We arrange all 3 pieces as one structure for mining services businesses across Perth, the Goldfields, the Pilbara and Australia wide.
Most finance conversations in this industry start and stop at the machine. For a contractor that is a third of the problem. The other two thirds are the gap between mobilising and being paid, and the working capital that decides whether the next contract is an opportunity or a squeeze. This page covers the whole picture; the equipment itself is covered in depth on our mining and civil equipment finance page.
Quick facts: mining services finance
| Who it is for | Drilling, earthmoving, crushing, maintenance, camp and haulage contractors |
| What it funds | Equipment, mobilisation, progress claims, rental buyouts, working capital |
| Typical trigger | A new contract, a scope increase, or gear on expensive hire |
| Structures | Equipment loans, invoice finance, overdrafts and term facilities, designed together |
| Where | Perth, the Goldfields, the Pilbara and nationally |
| Cost to you | $0 on most deals. Lenders pay the broker. |
The contract-win moment, funded properly
Winning work is the easy part to celebrate and the hard part to fund. Between signing and the first paid claim sit the mobilisation costs: floating plant to site, flights and accommodation, fuel, parts, and weeks of wages, all going out before a dollar comes back. The bigger the contract, the bigger the gap, which is why growth itself becomes the squeeze in this industry.
Mobilisation is funded with working capital sized to the specific contract: a business overdraft for the general timing gap, an equipment-backed line that releases capital from plant you already own, or invoice finance that starts advancing the moment the first claim is certified. Which tool, and how much, depends on the contract's payment terms and how front-loaded the costs are. We size it from the contract itself, not from a rule of thumb.
Paid in progress claims, funded against them
Mining services contracts typically pay on a schedule of rates, invoiced as monthly progress claims, certified, then paid on 30 to 60 day terms while your wages and fuel go out weekly. Invoice finance closes that gap by advancing most of each certified claim upfront, commonly around 80%, with the facility growing as the contract ramps up. Retention, related-party arrangements and the fine print of the contract decide what a financier can actually fund, and reading that before applying saves weeks. The detail lives on our dedicated invoice finance for mining contractors page.
Own the gear you are renting
Plenty of WA contractors are sitting on dry hire and rental-purchase arrangements that cost far more per month than the same machine would on an equipment loan. Rental has its place, especially early or for short campaigns, but once a machine is core to the fleet, buying it out converts rent into ownership and usually cuts the monthly cost at the same time. We compare the payout figure, the machine's value and the equipment loan repayment side by side, and tell you plainly whether the buyout stacks up. The same analysis applies to refinancing gear that was funded expensively in a hurry.
The equipment side of the picture
The machines themselves are financed through chattel mortgage, lease or hire purchase structures, matched to the asset's age, hours and working life. Start with mining and civil equipment finance for heavy plant generally, or go straight to the asset class: drill rigs, crushing and screening plant, or excavators and earthmoving gear. Operators buying more than once a year should ask about a master asset finance facility, an approved limit each purchase draws against. To see how a term and balloon shape any repayment, use our equipment finance calculator.
The balance sheet behind the contract
Two more pieces come up on almost every mining services file. The first is tax debt: large quarterly bills landing against slow-paying claim cycles build ATO balances quietly, and while that narrows the lender list, it rarely closes it. Our guide to business loans with tax debt covers how those files get funded and in what order. The second is scale: when the asks stop being one machine and start being fleets, facilities and development funding, the work becomes structured, and that lives on our mining project finance page. Both sit inside the broader commercial finance toolkit.
Real scenarios
Drilling contractor mobilising a program
A drilling contractor wins a new program and needs a support truck, consumables and crews on site weeks before the first claim is paid. We fund the gear and a mobilisation line together, sized to the contract, so the program starts on schedule without draining the accounts.
Earthmoving subcontractor bridging claims
A subcontractor to a large mining services group carries wages and fuel for 6 to 8 weeks against certified claims. We arrange invoice finance on the claims and set the plant repayments against the contract's payment cycle, so growth stops being a cash flow problem.
Maintenance crew buying out rented gear
A shutdown maintenance business has core equipment on long-running hire arrangements. We compare the payout figures against equipment loan repayments, buy out the machines that stack up, and the monthly saving funds the next hire of people rather than gear.
Haulage operator adding trucks for a contract
A haulage operator wins a cartage contract and needs additional trucks and trailers fast. We line the equipment finance up to the contract start date and pair it with working capital for the first month of fuel and wages, so the trucks earn from week 1.
Why contractors bring us the whole job
Bankers first, brokers second. Rockwall was founded by two former commercial bankers. We structure contractor funding the way the credit team approving it will read it: the contract, the counterparty, the assets and the cash flow presented as one case.
Access to more than 40 lenders. Through our Finsure accreditation we can take a deal to the major banks and to the specialist funders that actively write heavy plant, contractor working capital and claim-backed lending.
Based where the work is. We are Perth-based, in the middle of the WA mining economy, and we structure deals around progress claims, retention and mobilisation because that is how our clients get paid.
Licensed and accountable. We are MFAA members and Credit Representatives (579184, 579182 and 580433) of Finsure Finance & Insurance Pty Ltd.
Not sure where the pressure actually sits? Our free mining cash flow check takes 2 minutes: mobilisation cover, slow claims, breakdown buffer, rental drag and the rest, answered straight by people who fund this work.
Guides for contractors
Three free guides written for the moments this page is about. Mining contract mobilisation costs the 60 to 100 days from award to first payment and sets out how to fund them. Progress claims and retention works through certification, payment terms and the retention that locks up 5% to 10% of every claim. Wet hire vs dry hire shows where hiring stops making sense and how the buyout of hired gear is funded.
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 whole contractor funding picture: the machine, the mobilisation and the working capital designed together, structured around how site contracts actually pay. More on the team.
Frequently asked questions
How does finance work for a mining services business?
It usually starts with a contract. A new scope of work creates 3 funding needs at once: equipment to deliver it, mobilisation money for the costs that land before the first claim is paid, and working capital to carry wages and suppliers through 30 to 60 day payment terms. Lenders assess the contract, the counterparty and the business behind them, and the strongest applications present all 3 needs as one structure rather than 3 separate requests. That is how we arrange it: the machine, the mobilisation and the working capital designed together.
What is contract mobilisation finance?
Mobilisation finance covers the costs of standing up a new contract before the first progress claim is paid: getting plant and crews to site, flights and accommodation, fuel, parts and the first weeks of wages. It is usually structured as working capital sized to the specific contract, through a business overdraft, an equipment-backed line, or invoice finance that starts advancing as soon as the first claim is certified. The amount and the tool depend on the contract's payment terms and how much of the cost lands up front.
How are progress claims financed?
Most mining services contracts pay on a schedule of rates, invoiced as monthly progress claims that are certified and then paid on 30 to 60 day terms. Invoice finance advances most of each certified claim upfront, commonly around 80%, with the balance less fees paid when the miner settles. The facility grows with the contract, so winning more work increases the funding available rather than straining it. Certified claims to strong counterparties are the cleanest version of this lending.
Can we finance the buyout of rented or RPO equipment?
Often, yes, and it is one of the most valuable moves available to a contractor. Gear on dry hire or a rental-purchase arrangement can cost far more per month than the same machine on an equipment loan, so buying it out converts rent into ownership and usually cuts the monthly cost at the same time. Lenders assess the machine's age, hours and value along with your trading position, and the buyout price against the payout figure decides whether the deal stacks up. We run that comparison before anything is lodged.
What do lenders look at on a mining services application?
Four things carry most of the weight: the contract or pipeline behind the request, 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 contract with a solid miner reads very differently from a speculative purchase, and a clean history of certified claims strengthens every future application. We assemble that case the way a credit team expects to read it before it goes anywhere near a lender.
Can a business carrying tax debt still get mining services finance?
Usually, yes. Tax debt narrows the lender list rather than closing it, and it is common in this industry, where large quarterly bills land against slow-paying claim cycles. What matters is the state of the file: lodgements up to date, the balance quantified, a payment plan being honoured, and the debt disclosed upfront rather than discovered. Our guide to business loans with tax debt covers the full sequence.
Do you work with subcontractors or only head contractors?
Both. Subcontractors to the larger mining services groups carry the same funding shape, often with tighter payment terms and retention, and the counterparty being a large contractor rather than the miner itself can actually strengthen the receivables story. What changes is the paperwork: the subcontract's terms around payment, retention and assignment decide which financiers can fund it, so we read the contract before picking the lender.
Why use Rockwall for mining services finance?
Rockwall was founded by two former commercial bankers, and we structure contractor funding the way the credit team approving it will read it: the contract, the counterparty, the assets and the cash flow presented as one case. We are Perth-based, in the middle of the WA mining economy, with access to more than 40 lenders through our Finsure accreditation, including the specialist funders that actively write contractor and heavy plant deals. The machine, the mobilisation and the working capital get designed together, because that is how the work actually pays.
What does commercial finance in mining look like?
It is layered rather than a single loan. Equipment is financed against the machines through a chattel mortgage or lease. Contract mobilisation and the gap between certified claims and payment are funded with working capital: an overdraft, an equipment-backed line, or invoice finance advancing around 80% of each certified claim. Larger operators add term facilities for fleet programs and, at project scale, structured debt with a lender-grade information memorandum behind it. Lenders assess the contract, the counterparty, the assets and the trading history as one case, which is how we present it.
Get started
Want to talk it through?
Send us a short enquiry. We'll tell you whether it's fundable, how we'd structure it, and which lender we'd take it to. No obligation, and no meeting required to get an answer.
Prefer to talk? Call Rowan on 0483 292 005 or Ari on 0434 929 370.