B08 Metal Ore Mining

Olympic Dam gets a $40m injection

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Original article by Cameron England
The Australian – Page: 16 : 4-Feb-25

A joint venture between Fluor Australia and Hatch has been awarded a major contract for the proposed expansion of BHP’s copper smelter and refinery at its Olympic Dam project. BHP’s procurement officer Rashpal Bhatti says the two companies that were selected for the $40m engineering, procurement and construction management contract have "significant shared experience" in delivering major projects. BHP expects to make a final investment decision on the expansion during the first half of the 2026–27 financial year.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, FLUOR AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, HATCH ENGINEERING

Red Hawk backs $254m Fortescue takeover bid

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Original article by Giuseppe Tauriello
The Australian – Page: 16 : 29-Jan-25

Red Hawk Mining’ board has unanimously endorsed a $254m takeover offer from pure-play iron ore miner Fortescue. The off-market cash bid values Red Hawk at $1.05 per share, although this will rise to $1.20 if Fortescue secures at least 75 per cent of the target’s shares by 4 February. Fortescue says its offer represents a ‘significant and attractive premium’ for Red Hawk shareholders, while Red Hawk’s ND Steven Michael describes the offer as an ‘attractive outcome’ for the company’s shareholder. Red Hawk’s Blacksmith iron ore project is located near Fortescue’s Solomon hub.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE LIMITED – ASX FMG, RED HAWK MINING LIMITED – ASX RHK

Fortescue posts record tonnes amid tariff threat

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Original article by Elouise Fowler
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 24-Jan-25

Pure-play iron ore miner Fortescue has advised that its shipments from the Pilbara rose to a record 97.1 million tonnes in the first half of 2024-25. This includes 49.4 million tonnes in the three months to 31 December. Fortescue has maintained its full-year guidance of 190-200 million tonnes. Fortescue’s shares have shed four per cent in recent days, amid fears that the tariff policies of US President Donald Trump will dampen the Chinese steel industry’s demand for iron ore.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE LIMITED – ASX FMG, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

Supply glut could slash iron ore price

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Original article by Alex Gluyas
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 21-Jan-25

The iron ore price recently peaked at over $US104 per tonne, in response to data showing that there has been strong growth in China’s stockpiles of the steel input. Goldman Sachs expects a further sharp increase in stockpiles at Chinese ports over the next two years. The firm says this will weigh on the iron ore price, forecasting that it will fall to $US95/tonne this year and $US90 in 2026. Westpac is more bearish, forecasting that iron ore could potentially fall to around $US70 in 2025 as Rio Tinto boosts global supply.

CORPORATES
THE GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INCORPORATED, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC

Rio counts cost as Pilbara iron ore operations are flooded

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian – Page: 15 : 21-Jan-25

Rio Tinto states it is still assessing the impact of Cyclone Sean on its iron ore operations in the Pilbara, with a spokesman noting that its port and rail infrastructure had been hit by flooding. Observing that Rio’s first priority is the safety of its workers, the spokesman noted that the town of Karratha had experienced 274mm of rain in a 24-hour period. The flooding comes less than a week after Rio disclosed that heavy rain had impacted its iron ore operations in the December quarter and forced it to make use of stockpiles, while it has remained silent about any discussions it may have held with Glencore about a merger between the two big mining companies

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, GLENCORE PLC

Unions build case for same job, same pay

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Original article by Euan Black
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 21-Jan-25

The Mining & Energy Union and the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union are testing the federal government’s ‘same work, same pay’ laws in the Federal Court. They want workers at three BHP mines who are employed either by labour hire firms or BHP units and who are doing the same jobs as people directly employed by BHP to be paid the same amount, with the federal court hearing the difference in pay between those directly employed by BHP and those who are not being but are performing the same role can be as much as $49,000 a year. Should BHP lose the case, its estimates suggest it will have to pay an extra $1.3 billion a year.

CORPORATES
MINING AND ENERGY UNION, AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING WORKERS’ UNION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP

Rivals join forces to build WA green iron holy grail

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Original article by Tom Rabe, Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 18-Dec-24

BHP, Rio Tinto and BlueScope Steel will jointly build a pilot plant to produce ‘green’ iron in Western Australia. The low-emissions electric smelting furnace will be built next to BHP’s Kwinana nickel refinery at Kwinana, which was mothballed earlier in 2025. BlueScope executive Tania Archibald says Port Kembla in NSW was considered for the pilot plant, but financial incentives from the WA government persuaded the partners in the project to build it in Kwinana.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, BLUESCOPE STEEL LIMITED – ASX BSL

Rio Tinto says carbon pricing justifies emissions cuts

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 10-Dec-24

Rio Tinto’s decarbonisation general manager Stefan Kwiatkowski estimates that almost half of the mining corporation’s greenhouse gas emissions are covered by "legislative carbon penalty schemes", which include Australia’s safeguard mechanism policy. It estimates that its annual carbon compliance costs as a result of these schemes would be $US300 million per year by 2030 if it did not act to reduce emissions, rising to $US600 million per year by 2040. Rio has committed to halving its emissions by spending up to $US6 billion in the nine years to 2030, while it anticipates many of its decarbonisation projects will generate returns of between 12 per cent and 15 per cent.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Rio’s abandoned copper mine life threatening

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Original article by Elouise Fowler
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 25 : 7-Dec-24

A report by consulants Tetra Tech Coffey has found that Rio Tinto’s abandoned Panguna copper mine in Bougainville poses a number of "imminent, life-threatening risks", and that it could take over 100 years for the local environment to recover from its impact. Rio abandoned the mine in 1989 after a dispute over revenue-sharing helped spark Bougainville’s civil war with Papua New Guinea, which led to the loss of more than 15,000 lives. Panguna was majority owned by Rio until 2016, when it gave up its stake in Bougainville Copper to the Papua New Guinea and Bougainville governments, but Tetra Tech Coffey’s report adds to growing pressure on Rio to assume esponsibility for the legacy of the mine.

CORPORATES
TETRA TECH COFFEY, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, BOUGAINVILLE COPPER LIMITED – ASX BOC

Northern Star in De Grey takeover

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Original article by Brad Thompson, Valerina Changarathil
The Australian – Page: 13 & 19 : 3-Dec-24

Northern Star Resources will acquire smaller gold producer De Grey Mining via a scheme of arrangement. The all-scrip $5bn deal has been unanimously backed by De Grey’s directors, and is subject to shareholder and court approval. Northern Star’s offer comprises 0.119 of its shares for each De Grey share; the latter’s assets include the undeveloped Hemi project in Western Australia, which is slated to produce 530,000 ounces of gold a year during the first decade of operation. Northern Star CEO Stuart Tonkin says he is not concerned about acquiring Hemi without final federal and state environmental approvals in place.

CORPORATES
NORTHERN STAR RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX NST, DE GREY MINING LIMITED – ASX DEG