B08 Metal Ore Mining

Iron ore extends losing run to five

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Original article by Daniel Palmer
The Australian – Page: Online : 4-Dec-15

The price of benchmark iron ore for immediate delivery to the port of Tianjin in China has fallen by 0.7 per cent to $US40.30 per tonne. The price of the steel input has fallen in 35 out of the last 39 trading sessions and Daniel Hynes of the ANZ Bank says it is high likely to fall below $US40/tonne. The Australian Government’s 2015 Budget forecasts were based on an average iron ore price of $US48/tonne, but this is expected to be scaled back to about $US40/tonne in the mid-year Budget update.

CORPORATES
PORT OF TIANJIN, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, ROY HILL IRON ORE PTY LTD, VALE SA, MINE LIFE PTY LTD

Roy Hill yield delayed in shipping

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Original article by Sarah-Jane Tasker, Andrew Burrell
The Australian – Page: 21 : 4-Dec-15

The first shipment of iron ore from Gina Rinehart’s Roy Hill project in Western Australia was slated to leave on 4 December 2015. However, Roy Hill has advised that the departure of the cargo ship will be delayed by a week due to the requirements of the Port Hedland Port Authority. The iron ore price is edging towards $US40 per tonne, compared with around $US120 a tonne when work on the Roy Hill project commenced. Meanwhile, the Sydney Mining Club has named Rinehart its Miner of the Decade.

CORPORATES
ROY HILL IRON ORE PTY LTD, HANCOCK PROSPECTING PTY LTD, SYDNEY MINING CLUB, PORT HEDLAND PORT AUTHORITY

Driverless trucks head deep underground

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Original article by Barry FitzGerald
The Australian – Page: 19 & 22 : 3-Dec-15

The entire fleet of eight load-haul dump trucks at the Northparkes copper and gold mine in New South Wales have been fully automated. Northparkes is the world’s first underground mine to completely phase out drivers for such vehicles. Northparkes Stefanie Loader says the shift to full automation has had benefits in terms of both efficiency and safety at the mine. At present, Northparkes produces about 50,000 tonnes of copper and 46,000 ounces of gold each year, and Loader believes that the mine can remain in operation until at least 2050.

CORPORATES
CHINA MOLYBDENUM COMPANY LIMITED, SUMITOMO CORPORATION, SANDVIK AB

Iron ore collapses toward $US40

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Original article by Daniel Palmer
The Australian – Page: Online : 3-Dec-15

The price of iron ore for immediate delivery to the port of Tianjin in China has fallen by 2.4 per cent to $US40.60 per tonne. The price of the steel input has shed 25 per cent in the last seven weeks, amid slowing demand for iron ore in China. The commencement of exports from the Roy Hill project has contributed to the falling iron ore price, while iron ore has shed about nine per cent in Australian-dollar terms in recent days due to the strength of the domestic currency.

CORPORATES
PORT OF TIANJIN, ROY HILL IRON ORE PTY LTD, VALE SA

Ore extends slide, Shanghai rebar hits record low

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Original article by
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 2-Dec-15

The price of iron ore for immediate delivery to the port of Tianjin in China has fallen by 2.8 per cent to $US41.60 per tonne, according to The Steel Index. Meanwhile, iron ore for delivery in January 2016 has fallen by almost two per cent on the Singapore Exchange, to $US38.70 a tonne. The global oversupply of iron ore has resulted in inventories at Chinese ports rising to their highest levels since May, topping 87.65 million tonnes in late November 2015.

CORPORATES
PORT OF TIANJIN, THE STEEL INDEX LIMITED, SINGAPORE EXCHANGE LIMITED, STEELHOME, METAL BULLETIN PLC, VALE SA, JULIUS BAER HOLDINGS LIMITED, SHANGHAI FUTURES EXCHANGE, DALIAN COMMODITY EXCHANGE, FITCH RATINGS LIMITED, BMI RESEARCH

Iron ore price dives below $US43

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Original article by Daniel Palmer
The Australian – Page: Online : 1-Dec-15

The price of benchmark iron ore for immediate delivery to China’s port of Tianjin has fallen by 1.6 per cent to a new long-term low of $US42.80 per tonne. Meanwhile, iron ore futures in Singapore have fallen below $US40 per tonne. The iron ore price has shed nearly 25 per cent in the last seven weeks, and Axiom Capital Management’s Gordon Johnson expects the price of the steel input to remain subdued.

CORPORATES
PORT OF TIANJIN, AXIOM CAPITAL MANAGEMENT INCORPORATED, ROY HILL IRON ORE PTY LTD, BLOOMBERG LP

BHP, Vale set up clean-up fund for river as lawsuit looms

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Original article by Amanda Saunders, Steve Yolen
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 30-Nov-15

BHP Billiton has declined to comment on reports that the Brazilian Government will pursue legal action against both the Australian-listed group and Vale in the wake of the tailings dam disaster at the Samarco iron ore joint venture. However, the two groups intend to establish a non-profit fund to finance remediation of the Rio Doce river, which has been polluted by tailings waste from the project. Some reports have suggested that the fund could be worth around $US200m ($A278m).

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, VALE SA, SAMARCO MINERACAO SA, UNITED NATIONS

BHP denies UN claims of disaster’s toxic trail

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Original article by Amanda Saunders
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 27-Nov-15

The United Nations’ Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has expressed concern that the tailings dam disaster at the Samarco iron ore project in Brazil has released toxic waste into the River Doce. However, the project’s joint owner BHP Billiton says the tailings are non-toxic and chemically stable, while Samarco has indicated that tests have proven that the waste will not affect human health.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHPUNITED NATIONS. HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSIONSAMARCO MINERACAO SAVALE SABRAZILIAN GEOLOGICAL SERVICE

Rio says coal slump to last at least five years

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Original article by Amanda Saunders
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 27-Nov-15

There is unlikely to be a rebound in the price of thermal and metallurgical coal for some time, according to Rio Tinto’s Jean-Sebastien Jacques. The head of the group’s coal and copper division remains upbeat about the long-term outlook for coal, arguing that it will be a source of power generation for many years. Jacques expects the copper price to improve within 2-3 years, but he does not anticipate an upturn in the thermal coal price for 5-7 years.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIOBHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHPNEW HOPE CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX NHC

What will stop the iron ore drop?

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Original article by Stephen Cauchi
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 26-Nov-15

The downturn in the iron ore price has prompted some observers to forecast that it will fall below $US40 per tonne. However, Daniel Morgan of UBS says a number of factors may bode well for the steel input’s outlook. They include the expectation that more smaller producers will withdraw from the market and the potential for the tailings dam disaster at the Samarco project to reduce supply in the short-term. On the other hand, the outlook for the Chinese economy and US interest rates may put further downward pressure on iron ore.

CORPORATES
UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, SAMARCO MINERACAO SA, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, METAL BULLETIN PLC, MORGAN STANLEY AND COMPANY INCORPORATED, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, ATLAS IRON LIMITED – ASX AGO, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD