AMEC Foster Wheeler, which is being taken over by Wood Group, has won a 298 million Australian dollar (£180m) contract to work on the development of a gold mine in the country.

The engineering giant will help develop the facilities that mining firms Gold Road Resources and Gold Fields will use to process the output from the Gruyere deposit around 600 miles north-east of Perth in Western Australia.

This is reckoned to be one of the largest undeveloped gold finds in Australia.

The award may help underline the appeal of Amec Foster Wheeler for Wood Group.

The Aberdeen-based group decided to make a £2.2 billion for Amec Foster Wheeler to broaden its offering and geographic reach in way that should reduce its reliance on the North Sea oil and gas business.

Activity levels in the North Sea have fallen sharply amid the crude price plunge which started in 2014.

Wood Group chief executive Robin Watson said recently he saw no sign of an upturn in the North Sea.

Led by chief executive Jon Lewis, Amec Foster Wheeler said it will draw on its extensive international gold expertise to deliver a world class facility for Gruyere.

The London-based company has worked on over 125 gold projects.

The Gruyere plant is expected to process more than five million tonnes of material annually drawn from a large-scale open pit.

Shareholders in Wood and Amec Foster Wheeler gave strong backing to the planned takeover on Thursday.

Completion of the takeover is subject to regulatory approval. The Competition and Markets Authority has launched an enquiry into it.