B08 Metal Ore Mining

BHP’s Tesla nickel deal a boost for carbon transition

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 25 : 23-Jul-21

BHP has struck an agreement with electric vehicle maker Tesla to supply it with nickel from its mines and refinery in Western Australia. BHP’s chief commercial officer Vandita Pant said it was delighted to sign the agreement with Tesla, and noted that demand for nickel in batteries is tipped to rise by more than 500 per cent over the next decade. The agreement with Tesla has led to further speculation that BHP plans to divest its oil and gas assets, in addition to the sale of its remaining interests in energy coal mines.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, TESLA INCORPORATED

Records roll on China iron ore sales

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ronald Mizen
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 23-Jul-21

New figures show that Australia’s iron ore shipments to China rose by $1.1bn to $14.8bn in June, despite the ongoing trade tensions between the two countries. Australia exported some $17.6bn worth of the steel input during June, with China accounting for about 85 per cent of this total. The Australian Bureau of Statistics notes that the iron ore price rose by five per cent during the month. Meanwhile, Australia’s overall exports grew by $2.8bn in June, to $41.2bn; the nation’s goods trade surplus was steady at a record $13.2bn.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

BHP flags long China coal ban

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 21-Jul-21

BHP has advised that it produced a record 284.1 million tonnes of iron ore in the Pilbara region of Western Australia during 2020-21. The resources group shipped 283.9 million tonnes of iron ore from the Pilbara, compared with 283.3 million tonnes for the previous financial year. BHP expects to produce 278 to 288 million tonnes of iron ore in the Pilbara in 2021-22, while the group has warned that China’s ban on Australian coal imports is likely to remain in place for some time.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP

Rio feels pinch as labour hit slows exports

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Nick Evans
The Weekend Australian – Page: 25 : 17-Jul-21

Rio Tinto’s iron ore shipments fell 12 per cent to 76.3 million tonnes in the June quarter, while its half-year shipments were down three per cent to 154.1 million tonnes. Rio cited a range of factors for the fall in shipments, including labour shortages and the need to revamp mine plans around Pilbara heritage sites. Rio’s previous full year guidance for shipments was between 325 to 340 million tonnes, and it now expects shipments to be at the lower end of its forecast. However, to even achieve that will require it to ship 171 million tonnes in the second half of 2021

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

‘Legacy of sadness’: Glencore says sorry to traditional owners over NT mine as it seeks expansion

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Lorena Allam
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 7-Jul-21

Steven Rooney, the general manager of Glencore’s McArthur River mine in the Northern Territory, has appeared before a federal parliamentary inquiry into the destruction of ancient indigenous rock shelters at Juukan Gorge in Western Australia. He told the inquiry that Glencore has apologised to the traditional owners for the lead and zinc mine’s impact on cultural sites and the environment. Rooney also said that Glencore is in the early stages of negotiating a land use agreement with the traditional owners.

CORPORATES
GLENCORE PLC, McARTHUR RIVER MINING PTY LTD

Fortescue vindicated on hydrogen

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 14 : 7-Jul-21

Fortescue Metals Group has outlined the progress it has achieved in its goal of making its iron ore operations carbon-neutral by 2030. The pure-play producer has advised that it has produced high-purity ‘green’ iron from its Pilbara iron ore via a trial decarbonisation project that is being run by its Fortescue Future Industries subsidiary. The trials have also resulted in the production of ‘green’ cement by combining waste from the green iron process with other materials.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, FORTESCUE FUTURE INDUSTRIES PTY LTD

No more welcome to country for Rio Tinto, Indigenous owners say

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Lorena Allan
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 6-Jul-21

The Eastern Guruma people have told Rio Tinto that they will no longer perform ‘welcome to country’ ceremonies at any of its events or any events that it sponsors. They have also refused to have any meetings with Rio Tinto for at least three months. The Eastern Guruma people are angry with Rio Tinto after it was revealed that priceless cultural materials rescued from their sacred sites were thrown in a rubbish tip in the 1990s, and that Rio did not tell them of the error. Forty per cent of Rio’s Pilbara mine holdings in Western Australia are on Eastern Guruma traditional lands.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

China’s new front in the trade war with Australia – Africa

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ian Verrender
abc.net au – Page: Online : 5-Jul-21

China is by far the biggest lender to Africa, with one of its more controversial strategies involving handouts being given in exchange for stakes in long-term mining projects where Chinese-government-owned firms take all the profits. It is estimated that China struck $US164 billion ($218 billion) worth of such deals across Africa in the four years to 2018, with the Natural Resource Governance Institute finding they deliver much more benefit to China than the host country. By increasing its influence in potentially iron ore-rich countries like Guinea and the Republic of Congo, China can reduce its reliance on Australia for iron ore.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL RESOURCE GOVERNANCE INSTITUTE, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Mine workers locked down amid NT scare

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Brad Thompson, Mark Ludlow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 29-Jun-21

Newmont Corporation is facing a lengthy shutdown of its Tanami gold mine in the Northern Territory, as a result of it having gone into lockdown. The lockdown resulted from a miner who is believed to have become infected while in a Queensland quarantine hotel, before unknowingly passing it on to his colleagues at the mine between 18 and 24 June. Around 640 miners are currently locked down at Tanami; they are being confined to their single-room quarters for 14 days and having meals delivered to their door. The Tanami mine produced 495,000 ounces of gold in 2020.

CORPORATES
NEWMONT AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Chinese seize African iron projects

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 29-Jun-21

Chinese-backed company AustSino Resources has emerged as the likely developer of a number of iron ore projects in the African countries of Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The former ASX-listed company has connections to state-owned Chinese enterprises like China Railway Construction and steelmaker Baowu, while the projects in question would add around 100 million tonnes of iron ore to global markets and could help China to reduce its dependence on Western Australia’s Pilbara region for iron ore.

CORPORATES
AUSTSINO RESOURCES GROUP LIMITED, CHINA RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION LIMITED, BAOWU