Summit Materials, the Washington DC-based metals and mining holding company, will buy Hinkle Contracting, based in Kentucky.

Terms were not disclosed and calls seeking comment were not returned by press time. The investing partners’ goal is to expand Summit Materials’ footprint to areas surrounding the Kentucky acquisition’s footprint.

The Blackstone Capital Partners-backed entity will use Hinkle’s Paris, Kentucky operations as a second regional platform for Summit, which, in 2009, bought Hamm Inc.

Other backers in the Summit Materials venture include Tom Hill, former chief executive of Oldcastle Inc., Silverhawk Capital Partners and Charles Goodyear, former CEO of BHP Billiton.

The buyout platform was created with a commitment of up to $780 million.

The Hamm Inc. deal brought into Summit a Kansas-based highway construction company that also sells stone products and provides waste services.

Increasingly, private equity has expanded its presence in the mining and metal space as of late.

Resilience Capital Partners, the Ohio-based PE firm, launched North Coast Materials to buy mining and metals companies in late 2009. GTCR, the Chicago-based private equity firm, committed up to $150 million to developing the development of a seismic data licensing company used for tracking natural resources in Canada, called ReSurge.

Other potential opportunities have already developed, with Freewest Resources being put in play by a hostile bid.

Industrials Technology