B08 Metal Ore Mining

OZ Minerals boss Andrew Cole won’t follow his mines to BHP

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 19-Apr-23

OZ Minerals CEO Andrew Cole intends to "take a break" after more than eight years at the helm of the copper and nickel miner, and he will not join BHP when the $9.6bn takeover is completed. BHP is paying $28.25 per share for OZ; the company’s shares were trading at around $3 when Cole was appointed CEO in late 2014. Cole is highly regarded within the resources sector, and some Newcrest Mining shareholders had called for him to be recruited to succeed Sandeep Biswas following the latter’s departure in December.

CORPORATES
OZ MINERALS LIMITED – ASX OZL, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, NEWCREST MINING LIMITED – ASX NCM

Mincor board backs Forrest’s $760m takeover bid

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 5-Apr-23

Mincor Resources’ directors have recommended that shareholders accept the $1.40-per-share takeover offer from Wyloo Metals in the absence of a rival bid. The Andrew Forrest-backed Wyloo has increased its stake in nickel producer Mincor to 23.2 per cent, enabling it to prevent any rival bidder to move to the compulsory acquisition stage. There had been speculation that Wyloo’s takeover proposal could trigger rival bids for Mincor, whose board has indicated that it has held talks with third parties regarding potential interest in a bid. However, the board says that no alternative proposal is under consideration.

CORPORATES
MINCOR RESOURCES NL – ASX MCR, WYLOO METALS PTY LTD

Nickel miner Mincor seeks better offer after Forrest bids $760m

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Original article by Peter Milne
The Age – Page: Online : 22-Mar-23

Fortescue Metals Group’s founder Andrew Forrest has launched a takeover bid for Mincor Resources via his private company, Wyloo Metals. Forrest is offering $1.40 per share, which represents a 35 per cent premium to Mincor’s closing price on Monday. The nickel miner’s shares rose 41 per cent to $1.47 on Tuesday in response to the bid. Wyloo already has a 19.9 per cent stake in Mincor, which produces nickel sulphide in Western Australia’s Goldfields region. Mincor’s board has advised shareholders to take no action regarding the offer until it has considered the bid and makes a recommendation.

CORPORATES
MINCOR RESOURCES NL – ASX MCR, WYLOO METALS PTY LTD, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG

Elders’ heartbreak at Fortescue mine brawl

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 7 : 8-Mar-23

The Federal Court has been told that Fortescue Metals Group iron ore mining operations in the Pilbara have split the Yindjibarndi people and resulted in an ongoing feud between them. The Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation was granted exclusive native title rights in 2017 to the land that now comprises Fortescue’s Solomon mining hub. Yindjibarndi elders Margaret Read and Tootsie Daniel have told the Federal Court that their people became divided following the formation of a breakaway group called the Wirlu-Murra Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation, which has since secured lucrative contracts at the Solomon hub. They also expressed their anguish over the impact that mining has had on the Yindjibarndi people’s land.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, YINDJIBARNDI ABORIGINAL CORPORATION, WIRLU-MURRA YINDJIBARNDI ABORIGINAL CORPORATION

Rio pays $22m to settle probe into Simandou

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 8-Mar-23

Rio Tinto has agreed to pay $US15m ($22m) to settle the US Securities & Exchange Commission’s investigation into payments it made to a Guinean political adviser. The SEC found that Rio Tinto had violated accounting and record-keeping standards by failing to properly document its engagement with Francois de Combret, who had been hired in 2011 to help the company to secure the mining rights to the Simandou iron ore deposit. The scandal resulted in the termination of two senior Rio Tinto executives in 2016.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, UNITED STATES. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Goldman Sachs rules Rio buy

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Original article by Joanne Tran
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 26 : 7-Mar-23

Investment bank Goldman Sachs is upbeat about the outlook for iron ore, upgrading its price forecast for the steel input in 2023 to $US120 per tonne. Its previous forecast was $US100 a tonne. Goldman Sachs expects an iron ore deficit of 43 million tonnes, due to factors such as rising demand from China as the nation’s economy reopens. The firm has a ‘buy’ recommendation on Rio Tinto’s shares and a ‘sell’ rating on Fortescue Metals Group, while it has a ‘neutral’ position regarding BHP.

CORPORATES
THE GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INCORPORATED, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP

Foreign ownership of gold mines would rise above 50pc if Newmont-Newcrest deal goes ahead, analyst says

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Original article by Jarrod Lucas
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 6-Mar-23

Data from Surbiton Associates shows that Australia produced 313 tonnes of gold in 2022, which is equivalent to 10 million ounces. This compares with 315 tonnes in 2021 and a record 327 tonnes in 2020. Surbiton MD Sandra Close notes that Australian ownership of local gold mines is currently about 60 per cent, but this would fall to below 50 per cent if Newmont’s $24bn takeover bid for Newcrest Mining succeeds. Close adds that local ownership of the gold industry was around 80 per cent in the early 2000s, before offshore buying activity saw it fall to a low of less than 30 per cent.

CORPORATES
SURBITON ASSOCIATES PTY LTD, NEWCREST MINING LIMITED – ASX NCM, NEWMONT CORPORATION

BHP to shed coal plays as profit falls

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 15 & 23 : 22-Feb-23

BHP has posted a 2022-23 interim net profit of $US6.46bn ($9.4bn), which is 24 per cent lower than previously. Rising costs and a fall in the iron ore price weighed on BHP’s earnings for the half-year. BHP has advised that unit costs at its flagship Pilbara iron ore operations rose by 13 year-on-year to $US18.30 per tonne, while it expects unit costs for the full year to be within the range of $US18 to $US19 a tonne. BHP has also revealed plans to sell its Daunia and Blackwater coking coal mines in order to focus on six export-quality mines that are held by its joint venture with Mitsubishi.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, MITSUBISHI CORPORATION

Mining vital but public is ‘hostile’: Blainey

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Original article by Stewart Oldfield
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 15-Feb-23

Historian Geoffrey Blainey has emphasised the importance of the resources sector to the Australian economy. He says the current boom may be the "great mining period" in the nation’s history, and contends that the sector will remain critical to the economy for at least the next decade. Professor Blainey adds that public opinion towards mining is currently more hostile or indifferent than in any other decade in Australia’s history, while there is also political opposition to mining. He says more needs to be done to promote the mining sector’s contribution to the continuing strength of the Australian economy.

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Alcoa mining threatens Perth’s drinking water

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Original article by Peter Milne
The Age – Page: Online : 8-Feb-23

There is growing concern within the Western Australian government about the potential contamination of Perth’s water supply from bauxite mining. Internal documents show that the government is concerned about the potential for sediment from Alcoa’s bauxite mine to contaminate the Serpentine Dam, given that mining occurs just 300 metres from the water’s edge. Serpentine is Perth’s biggest dam, and changes to Alcoa’s mining methods about five years ago have increased the risk of sediment flowing into the dam.

CORPORATES
ALCOA INCORPORATED