B08 Metal Ore Mining

$800m overshoot on new Rio Tinto mine

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 16-Jun-22

Rio Tinto’s Gudai-Darri iron ore mine in the Pilbara had been slated to cost $US2.6bn when it was commissioned in late 2018. However, the resources group has advised that the final cost of the project will be $US3.1bn. Factors such as skilled labour shortages in Western Australia during the pandemic contributed to the cost blowout. However, competition for labour in the Pilbara was rising prior to the pandemic, with BHP and Fortescue Metals Group also approving new iron ore projects at around the same time that Rio Tinto announced that Gudai-Darri would go ahead. One consolidation for the big three miners is that the iron ore price is still significantly higher than in 2018.

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

COVID-19, wet weather see Australian gold output fall in March quarter

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Neil Watkinson
The West Australian – Page: Online : 30-May-22

Data from Surbiton Associates shows that Australia’s gold production fell by six per cent quarter-quarter in the three months to March, to 76 tonnes. Westgold and Silver Lake Resources are among the companies whose Western Australian operations were affected by COVID-19 during the period, with the latter withdrawing its guidance for the June quarter due to the pandemic and supply chain disruptions. A combination of the virus and heavy rainfall affected gold production at a number of mines across Australia.

CORPORATES
SURBITON ASSOCIATES PTY LTD, WESTGOLD RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX WGX, SILVER LAKE RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX SLR

CME rejects divide with Rio Tinto on Indigenous heritage protection

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Stuart McKinnon
The West Australian – Page: Online : 16-Mar-22

Rio Tinto has expressed support for moves at both state and federal level to strengthen cultural heritage protection laws. Rio Tinto has been under intensive scrutiny in the wake of its destruction of ancient indigenous rock shelters at Juukan Gorge in May 20202. The Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility has welcomed Rio Tinto’s support for legislative action at federal level, which has put the resources giant at odds with the Chamber of Minerals & Energy of Western Australia; the CME is of the view that indigenous heritage protection should be addressed at state level.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, THE CHAMBER OF MINERALS AND ENERGY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, AUSTRALASIAN CENTRE FOR CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY

Aussie gold production set to grow

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Stuart McKinnon
The West Australian – Page: Online : 16-Mar-22

Fitch Solutions is upbeat regarding the near-term outlook for Australian gold producers. The research house has forecast that local gold production will grow by an average of one per cent over 2022-2026, and gold output will rise from 10.8 million ounces in 2021 to at least 11.15 million ounces in 2031. The firm now expects the gold price to average $US1,900/oz in 2022, compared with its previous forecast of $US1,700/oz; it notes that the invasion of Ukraine has prompted renewed interest in gold as a ‘safe haven’ asset.

CORPORATES
FITCH SOLUTIONS

China’s iron ore platform could trigger a shift in pricing power

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Alex Gluyas
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 25 : 23-Feb-22

The Chinese government is developing a centralised state-backed platform for the nation’s steel industry to buy iron ore, according to a report from Bloomberg. Tyler Broda of RBC Capital Markets says the implications of such a move could be "wide-ranging and material". Vivek Dhar from the Commonwealth Bank adds that a centralised platform could potentially reduce iron ore prices in the medium to longer term. Chinese steel producers have long argued that large iron ore miners hold too much pricing power.

CORPORATES
BLOOMBERG LP, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA

Fortescue plans huge wind and solar farm

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 18 : 10-Feb-22

Fortescue Metals Group’s clean energy arm has revealed plans to build a wind and solar energy farm to provide renewable energy for the Eliwana iron ore mine in the Pilbara. The proposed renewable energy hub will be partially built on the Uaroo pastoral station, which is owned by a subsidiary of Andrew Forrest’s private investment arm, Tattarang. Fortescue Future Industries plans to commence work on the project as soon as it receives environmental approval from the Western Australian government.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE FUTURE INDUSTRIES PTY LTD, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, TATTARANG PTY LTD

Unions weigh in on Rio’s woes

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Peter Ker, David Marin-Guzman, Sally Patten
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 3-Feb-22

Mining & Energy Union president Tony Maher says the deunionisation of Rio Tinto’s workforce in the 1990s contributed to the toxic culture that has been exposed by former sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick. Her review of Rio Tinto’s culture found that conduct such as bullying, sexual harassment and racism are rife within the resources giant. Brad Gandy from the Australian Workers’ Union says it has been warning Rio Tinto of problems with its culture for many years; he adds that bullying occurs at Rio Tinto’s iron ore operations on a daily basis.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, MINING AND ENERGY UNION, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES

Relief as almost all BHP workers from Yandi mine test negative for Covid

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Danielle Le Messurier
The West Australian – Page: Online : 3-Feb-22

BHP appears to have avoided a large outbreak of COVID-19 at its Yandi iron ore mine in the Pilbara. BHP had ordered 78 workers to self-isolate at its Spinifex accommodation village after a rail maintenance contactor tested positive and spread the virus to a close contact. Most of the workers have now been cleared of the virus and have been released from isolation. However, 18 close contacts of the two positive cases must remain in isolation for 14 days, while BHP has not yet received the test results for one casual contact.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP

Iron ore miners win port export boost

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 22 : 2-Feb-22

Some 523 million tonnes of iron ore were shipped through Port Hedland in 2020-21. The Western Australian government has approved a development plan that could see the port’s iron ore export capacity increase to around 660 million tonnes a year. The government has advised that BHP, Fortescue Metals Group and Roy Hill are each likely to receive a 25 per cent increase in their port allocations. In addition, Hancock Prospecting and Mineral Resources have won the right to build a new berth at Port Hedland.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, ROY HILL HOLDINGS PTY LTD, HANCOCK PROSPECTING PTY LTD, MINERAL RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX MIN

Report damns Rio’s culture of bullying

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 22 : 2-Feb-22

A review of Rio Tinto’s internal culture by former sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick has revealed that inappropriate conduct is rife within the resources giant. More than 48 per cent of employees who participated in the review said they had experienced bullying at work, with workers in the company’s Pilbara iron ore division reporting the highest levels of bullying. In addition, about 28 per cent of female employees said that they had been subjected to sexual harassment, while nearly 40 per cent of indigenous Australian employees said they had been subject to racism within the last five years. Rio Tinto CEO Jakob Stausholm has committed to implementing all of Broderick’s recommendations.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO