B08 Metal Ore Mining

Fortescue exports up, prices down

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 13 & 17 : 28-Oct-22

Fortescue Metals Group has advised that its Pilbara iron ore shipments totalled 47.5 million tonnes in the September quarter, four per cent higher than the previous corresponding period. Fortescue expects full-year shipments for 2022-23 to be within the range of 187 million to 192 million tonnes. Meanwhile, the iron ore miner’s average cash production costs rose 16 per cent year-on-year, to $US17.69 a tonne. Fortescue chairman Andrew Forrest says rising fuel prices was the major contributor to the higher production costs during the period. Meanwhile, the average price Fortescue received for its iron ore fell to $US87.43 per dry metric tonne.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG

Gold miner St Barbara smashed by skills, gear shortage

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 & 24 : 19-Oct-22

St Barbara has advised that its gold production for 2022-23 will be within the range of 260,000 to 290,000 ounces. It had forecast full-year output of between 280,000 ounces and 315,000 ounces in mid-September. The company has attributed the production downward to labour shortages at its flagship Gwalia mine, which posted a significant fall in output for the September quarter. St Barbara sold 62,726 ounces of gold during the period, at an average price of $2,486 per ounce. Its shares closed nearly 22 per cent lower at $0.525 on Tuesday.

CORPORATES
ST BARBARA LIMITED – ASX SBM

Rio enlists Wrights to unlock phenomenal iron ore play

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Original article by Peter Ker, Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 24 : 19-Oct-22

Rio Tinto hopes to commence production at the Rhodes Ridge iron ore deposit in the East Pilbara by 2030 after reaching agreement with Wright Prospecting to modernise their joint venture arrangement. The original agreement was signed in 1972, and Rhodes Ridge has been the subject of a long-running legal dispute between the descendants of Pilbara iron ore pioneers Peter Wright and Lang Hancock. Rio Tinto’s head of iron ore Simon Trott notes that most of the ore grade at Rhodes Ridge is above the benchmark level of 62 per cent iron content. Meanwhile, Rio Tinto has advised that it shipped 82.9 million tonnes of iron ore in the September quarter.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, WRIGHT PROSPECTING PTY LTD

Traditional owners compare FMG damage to Juukan Gorge

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 12-Oct-22

Fortescue Metals Group faces a compensation claim from the Yindjibarndi people over the construction of its Solomon iron ore hub in the Pilbara. The compensation claim is based on a Federal Court ruling that part of the Solomon hub was built without the permission of the traditional owners. Fortescue has been accused of destroying sacred and significant sites, and the Yindjibarndi’s compensation claim will be based on factors such as cultural loss, pain and suffering, and economic loss. The Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation has likened the cultural significance of the traditional owners’ losses to Rio Tinto’s destruction of ancient Indigenous rock shelters at Juukan Gorge.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, YINDJIBARNDI ABORIGINAL CORPORATION, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

BHP outlines path to iron ore growth

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 15 : 4-Oct-22

BHP’s long-term goal is to increase its iron ore shipments from the Pilbara to 330 million tonnes a year. However, BHP’s head of iron ore Brandon Craig has conceded that the resources group will not be in a position to achieve this run rate until the late 2020s. Doing so will also require it to develop at least one new iron ore mine and upgrade its rail and port facilities. Craig adds that BHP’s priority in the near-term is to increase the quality of its Pilbara ore to at least 67 per cent.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP

FMG to spend $9.2b on switch to renewables

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Original article by Matthew Cranston, Lucas Baird
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 21-Sep-22

Fortescue Metals Group has outlined an ambitious plan to decarbonise its operations by 2030. Executive chairman Andrew Forrest has advised that Fortescue will invest some $US6.2bn ($9.2bn) between 2024 and 2028 on converting its operations from fossil fuels to renewable energy. He has indicated that annual spending over this period will not exceed 10 per cent of the earnings generated by Fortescue’s flagship iron ore business in any given year. Fortescue expects the investment to generate net operating cost savings of $US818m annually from 2030. The company aims to be carbon-neutral by 2030.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG

BHP bets on China after $44bn profit

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 13 & 17 : 17-Aug-22

BHP has posted a record net profit of $US30.9bn ($44.2bn) for 2021-22, which is 173 per cent higher than previously. The result was boosted by a $US7.3bn gain from the merger of its petroleum division with Woodside Energy and a $US9.3bn turnaround at its Queensland coal mines. However, lower iron ore prices saw its flagship division’s underlying EBITDA fall 17.7 per cent year-on-year to $US21.71bn. BHP shipped 282.8 million tonnes of iron ore in 2021-22 and expects 2022-23 shipments to be within the range of 278 to 290 million tonnes. BHP has also indicated that it may look to eventually lift this to 330 million tonnes. However, CEO Mike Henry says Chinese demand for iron ore may be nearing its peak, although he expects commodity sales to remain strong over the next year following China emergence from lockdowns.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP

Fortescue’s Gaines says more gender diversity needed in ASX firms

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Original article by Stuart McKinnon
The West Australian – Page: Online : 3-Aug-22

Fortescue Metals Group’s outgoing CEO Elizabeth Gaines addressed the Diggers and Dealers forum on Tuesday. She lamented the continued lack of gender diversity among the senior ranks of Australian-listed companies, noting that she became the first female CEO of a major Australian mining company in 2018 and this has not changed much since. Gaines also noted that just seven per cent of speakers at the annual mining industry event are women, while she highlighted the fact that women comprise half of Fortescue’s board.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, DIGGERS AND DEALERS FORUM

Rio bid to iron out problems with revival in the Pilbara

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 22-Jun-22

Rio Tinto officially opened its new Gudai-Darri iron ore mine in the Pilbara on Tuesday. The mine will reduce Rio Tinto’s average costs in the Pilbara and improve the average grade of its iron ore shipments. Rio Tinto’s head of iron ore Simon Trott says Gudai-Darri will help the resources group to reclaim its title of the best iron ore operator in the Pilbara. Rio Tinto’s iron ore shipments from the Pilbara fell to 321.6 million tonnes in 2021, having peaked at 338.1 million tonnes in 2018; its cash costs of production have also risen sharply since then. Gudai-Darri will have annual production capacity of 43 million tonnes, which could potentially be expanded to 70 million tonnes.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Fortescue signs deal for green haul trucks fleet

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 13 & 17 : 16-Jun-22

Fortescue Metals Group has struck a deal to buy 120 battery and hydrogen-powered haulage trucks for its iron ore mines in the Pilbara. The new clean energy fleet will replace about 45 per cent of the diesel-fuelled trucks at Fortescue’s mines. Sweden-based Liebherr will begin delivering the new vehicles from 2025. Fortescue’s current fleet of haulage trucks are estimated to account for about 26 per cent of its scope one and two emissions. Fortescue has a net-zero emissions target of 2030 for its Pilbara operations.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, LIEBHERR AG