B08 Metal Ore Mining

Hancock axes hundreds of jobs

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Original article by Mark Di Stefano, Mark Wembridge
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 14 : 17-Jun-26

Hancock Prospecting has declined to comment on the extent of job cuts at its iron ore mines in the Pilbara. However, the private company of billionaire Gina Rinehart is believed to have shed between 300 and 500 jobs, which would comprise up to 10 per cent of its workforce. Sources have confirmed that affected workers were offered generous redundancy packages. Hancock’s Roy Hill and Atlas Iron divisions were merged under the Hancock Iron Ore banner in mid-2025; their consolidation was aimed at streamlining Hancock’s operations across the Pilbara, which comprises the Roy Hill, Sanjiv Ridge, Mount Webber and Miralga mines; the company is also constructing the McPhee Creek mine and hopes to build another mine at Mulga Downs.

CORPORATES
HANCOCK PROSPECTING PTY LTD, ROY HILL HOLDINGS PTY LTD, ATLAS IRON LIMITED, HANCOCK IRON ORE

Unions putting squeeze on BHP

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian – Page: 13 & 14 : 11-Jun-26

The leaders of the Electrical Trades Union and the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union expect their members to vote in favour of industrial action at BHP’s port operations in Western Australia. The outcome of the ballot will be known later today, and halting iron ore shipments from Port Hedland for up to 24 hours would cost BHP about $126m. The Australian Workers’ Union and the Mining & Energy Union are also threatening to join the strike action, while BHP is facing separate industrial action by high-voltage electrical workers at its Pilbara operations.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, ELECTRICAL TRADES UNION, AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING WORKERS’ UNION, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION, MINING AND ENERGY UNION

Northern Star slump sparked takeover offers

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Original article by Mark Wembridge
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 11-Jun-26

Northern Star Resources’ share price has fallen by about 25 per cent so far in 2026, despite the rising price of gold. Chairman Michael Chaney has revealed that Northern Star’s underperformance has resulted in it being approached by several potential suitors during the last year, but such discussions did not proceed because they were not seemed to be in the best interests of shareholders. Chaney has also responded to a push by activist investor Elliott Investment Management to sell assets or the entire company; he says Northern Star’s board is of the view that it is not the right time to consider the latter option. He has also acknowledged that Northern Star has itself considered selling some mines, but decided against this; however, Chaney says all assets will be subject to regular review.

CORPORATES
NORTHERN STAR RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX NST, ELLIOTT INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LP

Fortescue ore under scrutiny by China

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian – Page: 17 : 3-Jun-26

Fortescue will replace its 60 per cent iron West Pilbara Fines product with a new low-grade product known as Fortune Fines, which has just 55 per cent iron content. Fortescue revealed plans to sell the Fortune Fines product in October, and shipments could begin as soon as July. Fortescue has acknowledged reports that the state-backed iron ore buyer China Mineral Resources Group has told some of its steel mill customers to ask questions about the Fortune Fines product, which is aimed at prolonging the life of Fortescue’s iron ore mines in the Pilbara.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE LIMITED – ASX FMG, CHINA MINERAL RESOURCES GROUP COMPANY LIMITED

Fortescue to pay $150m native title bill

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Original article by Mark Wembridge
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 12 & 16 : 13-May-26

Federal Court judge Stephen Burley ruled on Tuesday that Fortescue must pay $150 million to the Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation in what is the the largest native title compensation order in Australian history. The ruling relates to Fortescue’s Solomon iron ore mining hub in Western Australia’s Pilbara region, with the Corporation claiming that Fortescue has worked the Solomon hub since 2013 without permission or agreement with it. The Corporation had been seeking $1.8 billion, while Fortescue said in a statement that "it accepts that the Yindjibarndi people are entitled to compensation".

CORPORATES
FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, FORTESCUE LIMITED – ASX FMG, YINDJIBARNDI ABORIGINAL CORPORATION

Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting launches appeal on royalties

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Original article by Jesinta Burton, Tom Rabe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 13-May-26

Hancock Prospecting will appeal a Western Australian Supreme Court ruling that it must pay hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties to Wright Prospecting and DFD Rhodes. The ruling relates to royalties from Hancock’s Hope Downs iron ore operations, with Wright Prospecting being the family company of Peter Wright, the business partner of Lang Hancock, Gina Rinehart’s late father, while DFD Rhodes is the family company of late Pilbara pioneer Don Rhodes. The dispute between Hancock Prospecting and the two other companies relates to decades-old agreements signed by Hancock, while it is understood that the ruling has been challenged on multiple grounds.

CORPORATES
HANCOCK PROSPECTING PTY LTD, SUPREME COURT OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA, WRIGHT PROSPECTING PTY LTD, DFD RHODES PTY LTD

Gold mega-merger to ignite further deals

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Original article by Mark Wembridge
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 16 : 6-May-26

Directors of Regis Resources and Vault Minerals have unanimously recommended a proposed $10.7bn merger that would create the third-largest gold miner on the ASX. The combined entity would have annual production of more than 700,000 ounces and a mineral resource base of 20.5 million ounces of gold. Regis CEO Jim Beyer notes that the merged group would have almost $2bn in cash and would consider additional merger deals. Further consolidation in Australia’s gold sector is possible, after a series of deals over the last 18 months.

CORPORATES
REGIS RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX RRL, VAULT MINERALS LIMITED – ASX VAU

MinRes braces for diesel price pain

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian – Page: 17 : 1-May-26

Mineral Resources has upgraded its full-year production guidance for its mining services, iron ore and lithium divsions, including its Onslow Iron, Wodgina and Mount Marion projects. The company has also maintained full-year cost guidance across its divisions, although it noted that the rising cost of diesel fuel due to the Iran war began to have an impact on its operations. It is estimated that Mineral Resources uses about 12,000 litres of diesel fuel each day, while it also requires aviation fuel for its fleet of airplanes for its ‘fly-in, fly-out’ workforce.

CORPORATES
MINERAL RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX MIN

Status quo has shifted, union tells big miners

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian – Page: 13 & 19 : 29-Apr-26

The Mining & Energy Union’s Western Australian state secretary Greg Busson contends that major iron ore miners in the Pilbara have had the upper hand in negotiations with unions for too long. He claims that the big miners cannot handle the push to re-unionise the Pilbara via the industrial relations reforms that were enacted during the current federal government’s first term in office. BHP is already dealing with industrial action by high-voltage workers who are members of the Electrical Trades Union, while the need to negotiate with unions over changes to its Pilbara rail fleet has stalled the rollout of battery-electric locomotives.

CORPORATES
MINING AND ENERGY UNION, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, ELECTRICAL TRADES UNION

Rio bolsters copper production, eyes data centre building boom

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 12 : 22-Apr-26

Rio Tinto shipped 72.3 million tonnes of iron ore from the Pilbara in the March quarter; this was higher than the same period in 2025, despite the disruptions caused by cyclones. Rio Tinto still expects to achieve its full-year guidance of between 323 million and 338 million tonnes for 2026. Rio Tinto has estimated that the 70 per cent rise in diesel prices since the start of the Iran war will add about $US1 to the cost of producing each tonne of iron ore in the Pilbara; the iron ore price has risen by about 12 per cent since the war began. Meanwhile, Rio Tinto produced a higher-than-expected 229,000 tonnes of copper during the March quarter; demand for copper is rising in the US as technology companies ramp up their investment in AI infrastructure such as data centres.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO