B06 Coal Mining

Yancoal dares to dream dividends

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 31 : 2-Mar-18

Yancoal Australia has posted a 2017 net profit of $A229m, its first since 2012. The result was boosted by pre-tax earnings of $A276m for the Coal & Allied assets that Yancoal bought for $US2.7bn ($A3.5bn). Yancoal CEO Reinhold Schmidt notes that the deal made the Chinese-backed company the third-largest coal producer in Australia. He says dividends may be on the agenda at some point, but stresses that the focus is on delivering sustainable returns for investors.

CORPORATES
YANCOAL AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX YAL, COAL AND ALLIED INDUSTRIES LIMITED, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Growth in India to fuel coal demand

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Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 4 : 1-Mar-18

World Coal ­Association CEO Benjamin Sporton says demand for Australian coal will remain strong for some time, due to rising electricity consumption in India. He notes that some 300 million people in India currently do not have access to electricity, while a similar number of people are expected to migrate to India’s cities over the next 15 years. Meanwhile, high-efficiency, low-emissions coal plants with a capacity of 48 gigawatts are under construction in India.

CORPORATES
WORLD COAL ASSOCIATION, ADANI MINING PTY LTD, INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE

Adani denies environmental breaches

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Original article by Mark Ludlow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 1-Mar-18

Adani has defended its environmental record with regard to the proposed Carmichael coal mine, arguing that the project has undergone a stringent approvals process at state and federal level. However. Adani is involved in several court cases regarding the Carmichael mine. Amongst other things, Adani is challenging a $A12,000 fine over the release of excess water at Abbot Point during Cyclone Debbie in 2017.

CORPORATES
ADANI MINING PTY LTD, NORTHERN AUSTRALIA INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITY, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF ENVIRONMENT AND HERITAGE PROTECTION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL

Adani still getting special royalty deal

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Original article by Mark Ludlow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 15-Feb-18

Queensland’s Deputy Premier Jackie Trad says Adani’s proposed Carmichael coal mine would be entitled to defer royalty payments for four years if the project proceeds. The State Government approved the royalty scheme in May 2017, which will also apply to other resources projects in the Galilee Basin. Trad has rejected suggestions that Adani has been given a "royalty holiday", arguing that interest will be payable on the deferred payments. Meanwhile, the state’s Department of Environment & Science has rejected New Hope Group’s amended environmental authority for a proposed expansion of its New Acland coal mine.

CORPORATES
ADANI MINING PTY LTD, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF ENVIRONMENT AND SCIENCE, NEW HOPE CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX NHC, LAND COURT OF QUEENSLAND, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND MINES, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Our beautiful coal must rival Trump’s: Canavan

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Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 2 : 12-Feb-18

Australia’s coal and LNG exports totalled $A56.5bn and $A22bn respectively in 2017, but Resources Minister Matt Canavan says the US is emerging as a major competitor in Asia. The US currently exports shale gas to Japan, and Canavan says Asian buyers have also expressed interest in US coal. The US has traditionally been a net energy importer, although the Department of Energy has forecast that it will be a net exporter by 2022.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, UNITED STATES. DEPT OF ENERGY, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, ENERGYQUEST PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AME GROUP PTY LTD, ADANI MINING PTY LTD

Rio targeted by activist over MCA

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 30-Jan-18

The Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility will use Rio Tinto’s upcoming shareholders’ meetings in London and Melbourne to lobby the resources group to review its membership of the Minerals Council of Australia. Rio Tinto is said to have similar concerns as BHP Billiton regarding the MCA’s stance on issues such as climate change and coal-fired power generation. BHP will decide whether to retain its MCA membership by the end of 2018, in response to lobbying by the ACCR.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALASIAN CENTRE FOR CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, WHITEHAVEN COAL LIMITED – ASX WHC, WORLD COAL ASSOCIATION

Japan accord to boost brown coal, LNG exports

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 22-Jan-18

Australia and Japan have agreed to work together to develop coal and LNG markets in the region, following talks between their respective prime ministers in the week ending 19 January. Japanese technology could be used for high-efficiency, low-emissions coal power plants in south-east Asia, with coal to be potentially supplied from Australian mines. A consortium led by Kawasaki Heavy Industries will also look at whether brown coal from Latrobe Valley in Victoria can be converted into liquid hydrogen and exported for use in Japan.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, JAPAN. OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, GRATTAN INSTITUTE, KAWASAKI HEAVY INDUSTRIES COMPANY LIMITED, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

Rio Tinto wants US fraud charges dropped

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 23 : 18-Jan-18

Lawyers representing former Rio Tinto CEO Tom Albanese have rejected allegations that he concealed the true value of a Mozambique coal project, arguing that other officers and employees of the resources group were responsible for asset valuations and impairment charges. Albanese’s lawyers, as well as those representing former CFO Guy Elliot and Rio Tinto, will ask a US court to dismiss the Securities & Exchange Commission’s fraud charges.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, UNITED STATES. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION, JONES DAY

Gupta buys NSW coal mine from Glencore

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Original article by James Thomson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 14 : 3-Jan-18

Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance has acquired Glencore’s Tahmoor coal mine in New South Wales for an undisclosed sum, although the mine’s value is reckoned to be around $A500 million. Coal from the mine will support Gupta’s steelmaking operations in South Australia, with Gupta having acquired the assets of failed steelmaker Arrium, including its Whyalla steelworks, in August 2017. Tahmoor produces around two million tonnes of coal per annum, most of which is used for steelmaking.

CORPORATES
GFG ALLIANCE, GLENCORE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, YANCOAL AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX YAL, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, COAL AND ALLIED INDUSTRIES LIMITED, LIBERTY HOUSE GROUP, SIMEC, ZEN ENERGY PTY LTD

Japanese look past Glencore for coal supply

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 20 : 11-Dec-17

New Hope Coal CEO Shane Stephan says there is growing concern among Japanese coal buyers about Glencore’s growing dominance of the Australian coal industry. He adds that this is prompting coal buyers to look at alternative suppliers such as New Hope and Whitehaven Coal. Australia will account for about 55 per cent of Glencore’s global coal production of 124 million tonnes in 2017, and the company’s share of Australia’s coal market will rise if its deal to acquire 49 per cent of the Hunter Valley Operations mine from Yancoal is approved.

CORPORATES
GLENCORE PLC, NEW HOPE COAL AUSTRALIA, NEW HOPE CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX NHC, WHITEHAVEN COAL LIMITED – ASX WHC, YANCOAL AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX YAL, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, MACH ENERGY, YANZHOU COAL MINING COMPANY LIMITED