B08 Metal Ore Mining

Iron ore giant Fortescue Metals targeted by Russian ransomware group

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Original article by
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 19-Jul-23

Fortescue Metals Group has confirmed that a small amount of non-confidential data was stolen in a cyber-attack in late May. The iron ore miner has advised that it had informed the Australian Cyber Security Centre of the "low-impact cyber incident", and that it has completed an internal investigation and taken remediation action. Russian ransomware group C10pm has claimed that it was responsible for the Fortescue cyber attack, and it is believed to have hacked more than 100 companies worldwide.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG

Iron ore legal fight set for starting bell

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 3 : 17-Jul-23

A case that will begin in the Supreme Court of Western Australia on 24 June is the latest in a number of cases that have resulted from efforts by former business partners Peter Wright and Lang Hancock to "carve up" their WA iron ore interests in the 1980s. Lucrative iron ore assets and billions of dollars in iron ore royalties are at stake in this latest case, along whether Wright’s descendants are entitled to some of Hancock Prospecting’s interests in the Hope Downs and East Angelas mining tenements. The case is likely to run for around three months.

CORPORATES
SUPREME COURT OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA, HANCOCK PROSPECTING PTY LTD

Secret probe cleared Forrest of wrongdoing

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Original article by Brad Thompson, Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 17-Jul-23

It has been revealed that the board of Fortescue Metals Group engaged law firm Seyfarth Shaw to conduct a secret review into claims that executive chairman Andrew Forrest was involved in a relationship with an employee of the company. The board has advised that the investigation was instigated as a result of claims being raised in an anonymous letter, and that the investigation found that none of the claims were substantiated. The revelation of the investigation comes after Forrest and his wife Nicola recently disclosed that they have separated.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, SEYFARTH SHAW LLP

Fortescue sees Iron Bridge slippage push back first delivery

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 18 : 28-Jun-23

Fortescue Metals Group achieved the milestone of first production at its Iron Bridge magnetite project in May, and advised at the time that its initial shipment would be made by the end of the 2022-23 financial year. Fortescue has now advised that the first shipment has been pushed back to July. Fiona Hick, the CEO of Fortecue’s mining division, also says the first ore from its Belinga iron ore project in Gabon has been loaded onto a train, and it is on track to deliver the first shipment to customers by the end of 2023.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG

St Barbara owners back Genesis deal

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Original article by Elouise Fowler, Tom Rabe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 21-Jun-23

Some 77.15 per cent of St Barbara’s shareholders have voted in favour of a deal to sell the Gwalia gold mine to Genesis Minerals. St Barbara chairman Kerry Gleeson says the company aims to complete the transaction by 30 June. The deal will provide St Barbara with a much-needed cash injection and leave the company with just its gold assets in Canada and Papua New Guinea. St Barbara had rejected a higher offer for the Gwalia mine from Silver Lake Resources, contending that engaging with the rival bidder could potentially have resulted in a breach of its debt covenants.

CORPORATES
ST BARBARA LIMITED – ASX SBM, GENESIS MINERALS LIMITED – ASX GMD, SILVER LAKE RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX SLR

Fortescue, Rio say batteries will beat hydrogen for trucks

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 15-Jun-23

Fortescue Metals Group’s founder Andrew Forrest said in early 2021 that all of its iron ore haulage trucks would run on ‘green energy’ by 2030. He particularly emphasised the use of hydrogen and ammonia. However, Fortescue executive Christiaan Heyning has told the Energy and Mines Australia Summit in Perth that electric batteries are likely to be the primary clean energy source for mining trucks in the near-term. Fortescue’s director of decarbonisation contends that the alternative of hydrogen is currently more inefficient than batteries. Rio Tinto executive John Mulcahy has expressed a similar view.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Rio Tinto digs deep for local rail

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Original article by Tom Rabe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 14-Jun-23

Rio Tinto has struck a deal to buy 100 new locally-manufactured iron ore rail cars at a cost of $150m. The resources group typically purchases such rolling stock from China; Simon Trott, the head of its iron ore division, says that while rail cars that are made in Western Australia will cost more, it makes sense to support local manufacturing. The rail cars will initially be made by Gemco Rail in Perth, but production will eventually shift to a manufacturing and maintenance hub in the Pilbara. Trott adds that supply disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the value of local manufacturing.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, GEMCO RAIL PTY LTD

Goldman slashes iron ore forecast 18pc on weak Chinese demand

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Original article by Joanne Tran
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 : 7-Jun-23

Investment bank Goldman Sachs has downgraded its three-month price target for iron ore to $US80 per tonne, and it now expects demand for the steel input to be flat in 2023. Goldman Sachs anticipates that there will be a global surplus of iron ore for the first time since 2018, and this surplus will increase in 2024. The firm also expects the iron ore price to average $US90 per tonne in the first half of 2023, compared with its previous forecast of $US110/tonne.

CORPORATES
THE GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INCORPORATED

BHP at odds with Andrew Forrest on role of hydrogen in clean energy future

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Original article by David Newell
The West Australian – Page: Online : 6-Jun-23

Lee Levkowitz says she sees hydrogen only playing a small role in the world’s clean energy future, albeit a potentially lucrative one, with Levkowitz being head of head of energy, carbon and technology research at BHP. Her sentiments are at odds with Andrew Forrest, who has effectively tied the future of his Fortescue Metals Group to the development of green hydrogen, although they are similar to those previously expressed by rival mining company Rio Tinto, with its chief scientist Nigel Steward having stated he does not see hydrogen as an "energy carrier".

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Three years on, Rio Tinto says Juukan disaster remains a deep stain

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Original article by Nick Toscano
Brisbane Times – Page: Online : 25-May-23

Wednesday marked the third anniversary of Rio Tinto’s ill-fated destruction of ancient Indigenous rock shelters at Juukan Gorge in the Pilbara. Rio Tinto’s actions attracted global condemnation, a federal parliamentary inquiry and the resignation of senior executives such as former CEO Jean-Sebastien Jacques. Rio Tinto’s current chairman Dominic Barton says Juukan Gorge is a deep stain on the company’s history that it has to deal with. Restoring trust with Indigenous communities and improving Rio Tinto’s cultural heritage processes have been top priorities for the company’s current leadership team.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO