B08 Metal Ore Mining

Test for Rio spending

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 28-Nov-14

Paul Young of Deutsche Bank believes that Rio Tinto’s investor briefing on 28 November 2014 will include plans to proceed with the Silvergrass iron ore mine in Western Australia. He expects Rio’s board to approve the greenfields mine during the December quarter, despite its recent moves to reduce capital expenditure. Rio aims to increase annual iron ore exports from 290 million tonnes to 360 million. Silvergrass is expected to boost output to about 330 million tonnes

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, GLENCORE PLC, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY. BUREAU OF RESOURCES AND ENERGY ECONOMICS, CLSA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, DOMINION DIAMOND CORPORATION

Palmer in bid to stop fraud ruling

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Sarah Elks
The Australian – Page: 2 : 27-Nov-14

Supreme Court of Queensland judge David Jackson is hearing a claim by Chinese state enterprise Citic Pacific against its iron ore mining joint venture partner, federal politician Clive Palmer. Citic alleges that he improperly accessed an account and withdrew $A12.167m to fund his election campaign. Simon Couper QC, acting for Palmer, has formally conceded some of the points and argues the case should now be dropped. Andrew Bell SC, for Citic, says the admissions merely show that fraud did occur

CORPORATES
MINERALOGY PTY LTD, CITIC PACIFIC LIMITED, COSMO DEVELOPMENTS PTY LTD, MEDIA CIRCUS NETWORK PTY LTD, SUPREME COURT OF QUEENSLAND, SINO IRON PTY LTD, PALMER UNITED PARTY

BHP to live within its means

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Amanda Saunders
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 19 : 25-Nov-14

BHP Billiton has indicated that its focus will be on maximising production at its existing assets rather than pursuing large acquisitions. CEO Andrew Mackenzie has told an investor briefing that any future acquisitions are likely to be restricted to conventional oil and gas assets. BHP will also continue to seek productivity improvements and reduce capital expenditure, with plans to scale back the latter by $US600m in 2014-15 and $US1bn in 2015-16

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, HESS CORPORATION, CHEVRON CORPORATION, CITIGROUP PTY LTD

Police launch Palmer probe

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Hedley Thomas
The Australian – Page: 4 : 24-Nov-14

Chinese state enterprise Citic Pacific is reportedly handing over material to police in Western Australia (WA) that could lead to fraud charges against federal MP and businessman Clive Palmer. His Mineralogy vehicle is accused by Citic in a series of civil cases of making unauthorised withdrawals worth $A12m-plus from an account for an iron ore mining joint venture. The funds are claimed to have been used for the 2103 election campaign of the Palmer United Party. Citic wants WA Supreme Court judge David Jackson QC to rule that Palmer acted fraudulently and dishonestly

CORPORATES
CITIC PACIFIC LIMITED, CHINA INTERNATIONAL TRUST AND INVESTMENT CORPORATION, MINERALOGY PTY LTD, PALMER UNITED PARTY, WESTERN AUSTRALIAN POLICE SERVICE, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, SUPREME COURT OF QUEENSLAND, SUPREME COURT OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY, GROUP OF TWENTY (G-20), ABC TV, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

BREE caught out by iron ore price plunge

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Jacob Greber, Amanda Saunders
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 24-Nov-14

Australia’s Bureau of Resources & Energy Economics (BREE) had forecast in September 2014 that the price of iron ore will average between $US90 and $US105 per tonne over the next five years. The price has since fallen to around $US70/tonne, which will prompt BREE to scale back its short-term forecast for the steel input. BREE’s Wayne Calder concedes that the agency did not anticipate the sharp fall in the iron ore price, but notes that it does not forecast the spot price at any given time

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY. BUREAU OF RESOURCES AND ENERGY ECONOMICS, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP

MinRes close to mothballing iron ore mines

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Tess Ingram
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 20 : 21-Nov-14

The price of iron ore is currently trading at around $US70.20 per tonne, its lowest level in more than five years. Mineral Resources MD Chris Ellison says the group will suspend production at its iron ore mines in Western Australia if the price falls below its cash costs. He adds that it is very close to this point. Ellison forecasts that the iron ore price will trade within a range of $US75-$US85 per tonne over the next several years

CORPORATES
MINERAL RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX MIN, BC IRON LIMITED – ASX BCI, IRON ORE HOLDINGS LIMITED

Roy Hill the target as Rinehart kids chase Gina’s assets

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Leo Shanahan, Andrew Burrell
The Australian – Page: 8 : 20-Nov-14

The private Hancock Prospecting vehicle of mining heiress Gina Rinehart owns 70% of the major Roy Hill iron ore project in Western Australia. It has become the subject of the latest court action against Rinehart by her two oldest children, after a previous case relating to her role as trustee of the $A4bn billion Hope Margaret Hancock Trust. Following the lifting of a suppression order by Federal Court judge Peter Jacobson, it has emerged that John Hancock and Bianca Rinehart now dispute their mother’s ownership of the Hope Downs, Mulga Downs and Roy Hill tenements

CORPORATES
HANCOCK PROSPECTING PTY LTD, ROY HILL IRON ORE PTY LTD, MULGA DOWNS IRON ORE PTY LTD, HOPE DOWNS IRON ORE PTY LTD, HOPE MARGARET HANCOCK TRUST, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, THE HANCOCK FAMILY MEMORIAL FOUNDATION LIMITED, HANCOCK RESOURCES LIMITED, SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES, MARUBENI CORPORATION, CHINA STEEL CORPORATION, POSCO

Rio gets EPA approval for Pilbara mine

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Tess Ingram
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 26 : 19-Nov-14

Rio Tinto has received approval from the Western Australian Environmental Protection Authority for its Koodaideri iron ore mine in the Pilbara region. The approval is subject to a number of conditions. The new mine is forecast to yield some 70 million tonnes of iron ore each year, but Glyn Lawcock of UBS says Rio Tinto can achieve its annual target of 360 million tonnes without the mine’s contribution

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AUTHORITY, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, MOUNT BRUCE MINING PTY LTD

BHP pulls Nickel West sale as no buyer found

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Barry FitzGerald
The Australian – Page: 20 : 13-Nov-14

BHP Billiton has abandoned its efforts to divest the Nickel West mining and smelting assets, as it was unable to find a buyer willing to pay a suitable price. The operations had been excluded from the non-core divisions to be hived off into a new listed entity by BHP as it concentrates on iron ore, copper, petroleum and coal. Analysts’ valuations for Nickel West had fluctuated wildly between $A250m and $A1bn, and the sale was hampered by a drop in the commodity’s price from $US21,000 a tonne in May 2014 to $US15,451 in November

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, WESTERN AREAS LIMITED – ASX WSA, INDEPENDENCE GROUP NL – ASX IGO, MINCOR RESOURCES NL – ASX MCR, PANORAMIC RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX PAN, NICKEL WEST, GLENCORE PLC, JINCHUAN NON-FERROUS METALS IMPORT AND EXPORT COMPANY

Citi, ANZ price forecast grim for high-cost iron ore

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Amanda Saunders
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 28 : 12-Nov-14

The ANZ Bank’s Mark Pervan doubts that the iron ore price will return to $US100 per tonne, and forecasts that the steel input will trade at $US78/tonne in 2015. Citigroup expects the iron ore price to trade at $US65/tonne in 2015 and 2016. The firm has downgraded its recommendation on Atlas Iron and Mount Gibson Iron stock from "neutral" to "sell", and Fortescue Metals Group has been downgraded from "buy" to "neutral"

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, ATLAS IRON LIMITED – ASX AGO, MOUNT GIBSON IRON LIMITED – ASX MGX, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP