B08 Metal Ore Mining

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

$800m overshoot on new Rio Tinto mine

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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

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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

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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

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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