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RIO DE JANEIRO -(Dow Jones)- Brazilian iron ore miner MMX Mineracao e Metalicos SA (MMXM3.BR) signed a contract worth 255 million Brazilian reais ($ 150 million) Thursday with Australia's WorleyParsons (WOR.AU) for engineering, supplies and management services at the expansion of its Serra Azul project. The BRL4 billion Serra Azul expansion involves construction of an iron ore enriching plant, a railroad terminal and a 10-kilometer conveyor belt that will carry ore from the plant to the rail terminal, MMX said in a statement. The expansion will be built in prefabricated modules that will speed the project's development, the company said. MMX, controlled by Brazilian billionaire Eike Batista, has been operating mines at Serra Azul, famous for its high-quality ore, since 2008. The company's current production capacity at the site in Minas Gerais state, southeast Brazil, is 8.7 million metric tons a year. The enrichment plant to be installed in the current expansion will have 24 million tons a year of ore-processing capacity, allowing MMX to triple its output at the site. Signing of the engineering contract follows MMX's Aug. 29 announcement that it had gained a preliminary license from environmental authorities to expand its Serra Azul unit. Copyright © 2011 Dow Jones Newswires