B08 Metal Ore Mining

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

Miners fear diesel price surge

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian – Page: 15 : 8-Apr-26

Listed gold producers Capricorn Metals and Ramelius Resources have indicated that the supply of diesel to their Australian mines has not yet been affected. However, Capricorn says diesel supply is a ‘material risk’ for the nation’s mining industry, while Ramelius has contingency plans in the event of fueld rationing or other supply restrictions. Meanwhile, Robex Resources says it has a 30-day supply of diesel at its Kiniero gold mine in Guinea; CEO Matthew Wilcox says supply chains have not been disrupted and the price of diesel in Guinea has risen by about five per cent since the Iran war began. Guinea imports all of its liquid fuels, and the nation does not have an oil and gas industry.

CORPORATES
CAPRICORN METALS LIMITED – ASX CMM, RAMELIUS RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX RMS, ROBEX RESOURCES INCORPORATED – ASX RXR

Iron ore leverage in quest for diesel

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian – Page: 17 : 1-Apr-26

The Chamber of Minerals & Energy of Western Australia’s CEO Aaron Morey says the world is now in an era of strategic competition and sovereign industrial capability. He contends that leverage matters in this environment, and Australia has the commodities that the world needs, particularly iron ore and LNG. Morey adds that it therefore makes sense for Australia to use iron ore exports as leverage to secure a supply deal with China regarding diesel fuel. Morey has also cautioned the federal government against imposing a so-called ‘windfall tax’ on the oil and gas sector; he notes that a similar tax imposed in the UK four years ago has curtailed investment in gas well drilling in the North Sea.

CORPORATES
THE CHAMBER OF MINERALS AND ENERGY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED

Rio, BHP win opens land for US copper mine

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Original article by Jessica Gardner
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 18-Mar-26

The Resolution Copper joint venture between Rio Tinto and BHP in Arizona has been stalled for more than a decade. However, hopes that the project will finally proceed have been boosted after a court rejected an application to block a transfer of land from the US Forest Service to the resources groups. The Forest Service subsequently completed the transfer of land, although opponents of the project have filed an appeal against the court ruling. The copper deposit was discovered in 1995, and Rio Tinto executive Katie Jackson says it could potentially supply up to 25 per cent of the US’s copper demand for many years.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO,BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP,RESOLUTION COPPER MINING LLC,UNITED STATES. FOREST SERVICE