B08 Metal Ore Mining

Forrest defends bid to axe diesel rebate

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 15 & 18 : 24-Nov-21

Fortescue Metals Group founder Andrew Forrest says the diesel fuel rebate costs taxpayers about $5bn a year at present. He adds that a small number of large mining and energy companies receive the bulk of the rebate, and he has urged the federal government to start phasing it out between 2025 and 2030. However, Forrest says the rebate should only be scrapped for large mining and energy companies, and it should be retained for farmers and other small business than rely upon it. The Mineral Council of Australia is among the critics of Forrest’s push to have the rebate scrapped.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE FUTURE INDUSTRIES PTY LTD, MINERAL COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

Atlas maps out iron-clad profit for a third year

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Original article by John Stensholt
The Australian – Page: 18 : 24-Nov-21

Atlas iron has posted a 2020-21 net profit of $938m, which is 146 per cent higher than previously. The junior iron ore miner is owned by Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting, which paid $427m for the company in 2018. Atlas Iron’s revenue was up 66 per cent to $1.7bn, and its Mt Webber and Sanjiv Ridge mines shipped a combined 9.7 million tonnes of iron ore during the financial year. Shipments from the Sanjiv Ridge mine began in 2020-21. Rinehart’s Roy Hill mine recently posted a net profit of $4.4bn for the financial year.

CORPORATES
ATLAS IRON LIMITED, HANCOCK PROSPECTING PTY LTD, ROY HILL HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Australia well-positioned to supply critical US minerals

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 25 : 10-Nov-21

The US Geological Survey has added nickel to its list of critical minerals. Australia is poised to benefit from this move, given that the nation accounts for 24 per cent of global nickel production. Zinc has also been added to the USGS list of critical minerals, while helium, potash, rhenium and strontium have been removed. The International Monetary Fund recently forecast that demand for critical minerals will rise sixfold over the next two decades.

CORPORATES
UNITED STATES. DEPT OF THE INTERIOR. UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

Best ever platinum discovery

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 25 : 10-Nov-21

Chalice Mining has released the first mineral resource estimate for its Gonneville deposit in Western Australia. The deposit contains gold, copper, nickel, cobalt, palladium and platinum; the latter two minerals are relatively scarce in Australia, and Chalice MD Alex Dorsch says Gonneville is the biggest discovery of platinum group elements in the nation’s history. The Gonneville deposit could potentially make Chalice a takeover target from global resources groups such as Anglo American, BHP or Rio Tinto.

CORPORATES
CHALICE MINING LIMITED – ASX CHN, ANGLO AMERICAN PLC, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Dozens of Rio Tinto workers sacked, disciplined over harassment cases

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Original article by Caitlyn Rintoul
The West Australian – Page: Online : 28-Oct-21

Simon Trott, the head of Rio Tinto’s iron ore division, has conceded that sexual misconduct occurs at the resources group’s mine sites and accommodation camps. He has told a parliamentary inquiry that 30 workers have been disciplined in the last year due to sexual misconduct, and 15 workers have been dismissed. Trott added that Rio Tinto is committed to organisational change on the issue. The inquiry into sexual misconduct in the ‘fly-in, fly-out’ sector has received more than 70 submissions from mining companies, industry bodies, unions and workers.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Rio Tinto fined for exposing workers to extreme weather conditions

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Original article by Kate Purnell
The West Australian – Page: Online : 26-Oct-21

Sally North says it is very important that companies make staff aware that working in extremely hot weather conditions can result in heat stroke. North is from Western Australia’s Department of Mines, Industry Regulation & Safety, and was commenting on a case it brought against Rio Tinto. The resources group was fined $80,000 after pleading guilty to failing to ensure the safety of workers. It followed an incident in 2017 when a worker died of heat stroke after he and two colleagues had to walk over 32 kilometres across rugged terrain and in temperatures that were estimated to exceed 37C.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF MINES, INDUSTRY REGULATION AND SAFETY

Rio spreads wings in asset hunt

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 16 : 22-Oct-21

Rio Tinto is to broaden the range of commodities that it is willing to develop, with a particular emphasis on base metals required to support global electrification. It is also looking to widen the range of locations that it is prepared to explore for assets in, with Russia being among only a handful of exceptions. Rio’s stance is similar to that echoed recently by BHP CEO Mike Henry, who stated that it was contemplating a return to "tougher jurisdictions" in its efforts to discover more "future facing" commodities such as nickel and copper.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP

Unions slam BHP over FIFO searches

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 3 : 20-Oct-21

BHP has been criticised for implementing a new policy that allows it to search the personal belongings of ‘fly in, fly out’ workers. Western Mine Workers Alliance spokesman Greg Busson says FIFO workers in Western Australia have been told that they will not be permitted to stay in BHP’s mining camps if they do not agree to the policy. He adds that the policy is "wide open to abuse". BHP has indicated that searches will only be carried out if there is reason to believe that a worker is in possession of prohibited items.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, WESTERN MINE WORKERS ALLIANCE

BHP aims to crush South Flank glitches

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 14 & 20 : 20-Oct-21

BHP shipped 70.8 million tonnes of iron ore in the September quarter, which is 3.5 per cent lower than the same period in 2020. The resources group’s iron ore export volumes for the first nine months of 2021 were also 3.8 per cent lower than the previous corresponding period. This has largely been due to technical issues at its South Flank mine, which commenced production in May. BHP has experienced mechanical problems with one of the crushing machines at South Flank, prompting it to hire temporary crushing equipment. BHP’s iron ore volumes in the Pilbara have also been impacted by a shortage of train drivers. BHP produced 71 million tonnes of iron ore in the Pilbara during the September quarter, which is three per cent lower than the June quarter.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP

BHP processing breakthrough extends iron ore mine life

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 19-Oct-21

Asian steel mills ‘covet’ iron ore from BHP’s Yindi mine in Western Australia’s Pilbara region because of the low level of impurities it contains. BHP had advised investors and customers in 2020 that Yandi’s working life would end in mid-2021, but its application of hyperspectral imaging – traditionally used to determine the value of exploration samples – in a new manner has enabled BHP to indicate that Yandi’s mine life could be extended by at least another five years.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP