B10 Exploration and Other Mining Support Services

Contractors feel pain of tumbling iron ore prices

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Original article by Jenny Wiggins
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 9-Sep-14

Falling iron ore prices have had a negative impact on engineering and mining contractors providing services to iron ore mining companies. Analysts have downgraded their ratings, and the share prices of companies such as Mineral Resources, NRW Holdings and Macmahon Holdings are likely to be under pressure. The stock of Mineral Resources fell 1.8 per cent on 8 September 2014 after it was downgraded by RBC Capital Markets from "outperform" to "sector perform"

CORPORATES
MINERAL RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX MIN, NRW HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NWH, MACMAHON HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MAH, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, WESTERN DESERT RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX WDR, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, LEIGHTON HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX LEI, DOWNER EDI LIMITED – ASX DOW, MONADELPHOUS GROUP LIMITED – ASX MND, AUSTIN ENGINEERING LIMITED – ASX ANG, BRADKEN LIMITED – ASX BKN, EMECO HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX EHL, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS

Rinehart hints Roy Hill may export early

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Original article by Peter Ker, Ben Butler
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 3-Sep-14

Hancock Prospecting has previously indicated that it expects to commence exporting iron ore from its Roy Hill project in September 2015. However, mining magnate Gina Rinehart has advised that exports could begin ahead of schedule. Meanwhile, Hancock Prospecting has revealed that it has ceased all exploration activities in Mongolia and no longer has any commercial interests in the country

CORPORATES
HANCOCK PROSPECTING PTY LTD, ROY HILL IRON ORE PTY LTD, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, SOUTHGOBI RESOURCES LIMITED, MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY, LINKEDIN LIMITED, ASPIRE MINING LIMITED – ASX AKM, GUILDFORD COAL LIMITED – ASX GUF, SAMSUNG C&T CORPORATION

Fall in exploration spending sets off alarm bells

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 20 : 2-Sep-14

New data by the Australian Bureau of Statistics show expenditure on exploration by resources groups during the three months ending 30 June 2014 declined 7.5% to $A444m seasonally adjusted. Association of Mining & Exploration Companies CEO Simon Bennison warns of the long-term negative impact of the drop on the economy overall. The drilling services sector is already being affected

CORPORATES
BOART LONGYEAR LIMITED – ASX BLY, ASSOCIATION OF MINING AND EXPLORATION COMPANIES, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

High cost of ‘green tape’ to economy

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Original article by Annabel Hepworth
The Australian – Page: 19 : 18-Aug-14

A new study has been commissioned from BAEconomics by the Minerals Council of Australia. The special interest group will argue that the research shows so-called green tape will hold up developments that could otherwise add some 69,000 jobs to the economy by 2015, unless state and federal governments act to reduce the bureaucratic burden. The Department of Employment recently also forecast that 16,000-plus workers would be made redundant in the half-decade to 2018 in the areas of exploration as well as metal ore and coal mining, after 106,700 positions had been created in the previous five years

CORPORATES
MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, BAECONOMICS PTY LTD, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, BG GROUP PLC, QUEENSLAND GAS COMPANY LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION

Mineral Resources guilty over sparkie’s death

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 20 : 13-Aug-14

Simon Ridge, resources safety executive director at the Western Australian (WA) Department of Mines & Petroleum, has welcomed a decision by Mineral Resources. The listed group has pleaded guilty to failing to provide a safe working environment, after its Crushing Services International off-shoot suffered a fatal accident at the Christmas Creek iron ore mine in WA of client Fortescue Metals Group. An electrician working for the contractor had been crushed. The parent’s stock on 12 August 2014 rose 3.1% to close at $A10.96

CORPORATES
MINERAL RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX MIN, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, CRUSHING SERVICES INTERNATIONAL PTY LTD, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF MINES AND PETROLEUM

Ore reserves up but exploration down

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Original article by Sarah-Jane Tasker
The Australian – Page: 18 : 31-Jul-14

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) energy, utilities and mining industry leader Jock O’Callaghan says resources groups in Australia have significantly reduced their spending on exploration work. The first annual mining benchmarking study by PwC shows that such activities in 2013-14 accounted for just 6% of total capital expenditure by the sector. While ore reserves did still increase during the year, there are now fears not enough new projects will be prepared for the post-2025 period

CORPORATES
PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS

Mining still dragging the chain on big data

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 20 : 4-Jul-14

The Australian mining sector is slow to adopt digital technology. WorleyParsons CEO Andrew Wood said that better use of data in design and construction can significantly reduce the cost and time of new projects. He said that project times could be cut by 20 per cent. The cost of design could be reduced by up to 70 per cent by re-using data from other projects. Total capital costs could be reduced by up to five per cent

CORPORATES
WORLEYPARSONS LIMITED – ASX WOR, THE MELBOURNE MINING CLUB, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, BANK OF AMERICA AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MERRILL LYNCH (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD