B08 Metal Ore Mining

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

BHP’s iron ore head issues dire IR warning

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Original article by Tom Rabe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 21-Apr-26

BHP’s iron ore asset president Tim Day has warned that the re-unionisation of the Pilbara is probably inevitable and it is likely to happen regardless of what BHP does. Day also told an event hosted by the Chamber of Minerals & Energy of Western Australia that the re-unionisation of the Pilbara under the federal government’s industrial relations reforms will drive investment offshore. Members of the Electrical Trades Union at BHP’s sites in the Pilbara have already imposed partial work bans, while BHP recently lost a High Court bid to appeal against a ruling under the ‘same job same pay’ laws that forced it to increase the pay of 2,000 labour-hire workers in Queensland by up to $30,000 a year.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, THE CHAMBER OF MINERALS AND ENERGY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED

BHP nears end to China iron ore pricing and contracts dispute

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian – Page: 13 & 20 : 15-Apr-26

BHP has declined to comment on media reports that China Mineral Resources Group Company has told a number of steel mills that they can buy some of the resources group’s Pilbara iron ore with US dollars. The possible breakthrough in the dispute, which began when CMRG imposed unofficial bans on BHP’s Jimblebar fines product in 2025, follows a visit to China by BHP’s CEO Mike Henry and his successor Brandon Craig. They are believed to have met with officials from both CMRG and steel giant Baowu. Craig will formally succeed Henry on 1 July, and has indicated that resolving the iron ore dispute is one of his top priorities.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, CHINA MINERAL RESOURCES GROUP COMPANY LIMITED, CHINA BAOWU STEEL GROUP CORPORATION LIMITED

WA Premier backs mint’s plan to refine rare earths

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Original article by Tom Rabe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 14-Apr-26

The Perth Mint currently processes more than 70 per cent of the gold that is mined in Australia, and it was Western Australia’s third-largest exporter in dollar value during 2024-25. John Van Der Wielen, the chairman of the Perth Mint’s state-owned parent company Gold Corporation, contends that the Mint could expand its operations to include the processing of criticial minerals such as rare earths. WA Premier Roger Cook says the state government would broadly support any such move; however, Perennial portfolio manager Sam Berridge says expanding the scope of the Perth Mint’s mineral processing would most likely require significant investment from the state government.

CORPORATES
PERTH MINT, GOLD CORPORATION PTY LTD, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, PERENNIAL VALUE MANAGEMENT LIMITED

Union booze breath fail was mouthwash

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian – Page: 13 & 17 : 9-Apr-26

There has been a sharp increase in unions’ right-of-entry requests at iron ore mines in the Pilbara since Labor took office federally in 2022. BHP received 844 right-of-entry requests in 2025, and there were 168 in the first 10 weeks of 2026. The issue has come under scrutiny in the wake of BHP’s refusal to allow an Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union organiser to access its Newman mine site via a right-of-access permit. The AMWU contends that the organiser had failed a breathalyser test after using an alcohol-based mouthwash immediately before entering the mine site. However, BHP says its rules on alcohol and drug use are strictly enforced and non-negotiable.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHPAUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING WORKERS’ UNION