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Lithium, nickel need bailout now

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 13-Feb-24

Liontown Resources CEO Tony Ottaviano has called for royalty relief for lithium and nickel producers in a bid to prevent further mine closures and job losses. The Western Australian government implemented a 12-month, 50 per cent royalty break for the lithium sector in late 2020 when lithium prices last tumbled, and Ottaviano says it is time for similar royalty relief for lithium and in the collapsing nickel sector. Ottaviano said royalty relief would not impact Liontown straight away, as its Kathleen Valley lithium project in WA is still around six months away from its first production but it would be good to factor it into cash flow.

CORPORATES
LIONTOWN RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX LTR

Australia’s top lithium mine to trim output

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 30-Jan-24

IGO has confirmed that production at the Greenbushes lithium mine in Western Australia would be likely to be "marginally reduced" over the next five months, with Greenbushes being Australia’s biggest and most lucrative lithium mine. IGO and Tianqi own 51 per cent of Greenbushes under a joint venture, with the remaining 49 per cent owned by New York-listed Albemarle. The owners of Greenbushes place a priority on the production of battery-grade lithium chemicals, and with reduced demand for battery-grade lithium chemicals resulting from weaker-than-expected electric vehicle sales, Albemarle and Tianqi have elected to order less lithium from Greenbushes.

CORPORATES
IGO LIMITED – ASX IGO, TIANQI LITHIUM CORPORATION, ALBERMARLE CORPORATION

‘Abhorrent’: Buttrose lashes ABC staff revolt

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Original article by James Madden
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 24-Jan-24

The ABC’s board unanimously passed a vote of confidence in MD David Anderson at an emergency meeting on Tuesday. This followed a union-led motion of no-confidence that was passed by the vast majority of 128 staff members on Monday. Amongst other things, they were critical of the public broadcaster’s coverage of the Israel-Hamas war and its decision to sack journalist Antoinette Lattouf in December. The ABC’s outgoing chair Ita Buttrose has defended Anderson, saying any suggestion that he has ever shown a lack of support for independent journalism is "abhorrent and incorrect".

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AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

ABC staff pass no-confidence vote in boss as senior journalist lashes leadership

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Original article by Calum Jaspan, Michael Bachelard
The Age – Page: Online : 23-Jan-24

The ABC board will hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday after the public broadcaster’s union members passed a motion of no-confidence in MD David Anderson by 125 to 3 at a meeting on Monday. The meeting was prompted by the public broadcaster’s sacking of journalist Antoinette Lattouf in December, while ABC global affairs editor John Lyons is said to have told the meeting he was embarrassed by it, accusing it of pro-Israel bias and of failing to protect its staff. The meeting outlined five demands it wants Anderson and senior ABC management to address in order to win back the confidence of its staff and the public, including upholding a transparent complaints process and developing clearer and fairer social media policies.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Miners call for critical minerals aid

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Original article by Peter Ker, Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 15 : 23-Jan-24

Shares in Liontown Resources fell almost 22 per cent on Monday after its lending syndicate announced it would withdraw a $760 million it had offered as recently as October. It was prompted by a forecast by commodities’ agency Wood Mackenzie that the price of lithium would remain at around $US950 a tonne until 2028, with Liontown seeking to develop the Kathleen Valley lithium project in Western Australia. Liontown MD Tony Ottaviano says $US950 a tonne is "a very, very low price", while federal Resources Minister Catherine King and WA Mines Minister David Michael are to hold crisis talks with nickel and lithium producers.

CORPORATES
LIONTOWN RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX LTR, WOOD MACKENZIE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, SCIENCE AND RESOURCES, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF MINES, INDUSTRY REGULATION AND SAFETY

The Iconic promises to issue refunds to hacked customers

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Original article by David Swan, Jessica Yun
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 10-Jan-24

The Iconic is the latest Australian company to be hit by a growing wave of cybercrime. The online retailer has advised customers to regularly change their passwords following a rise in fraudulent account login attempts. Some customers claim to have had more than $1,000 stolen from their bank accounts after The Iconic was targeted by hackers who used personal information gleaned from separate data breaches to access customers’ accounts. The Iconic says it will provide full refunds to all affected customers, and emphasised that its own website has not been compromised.

CORPORATES
THEICONIC.COM.AU

Rinehart, SQM unite for $1.7b Azure bid

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 12 : 20-Dec-23

Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting has teamed up with Chile-based lithium miner SQM to make a joint bid for Azure Minerals. The target’s board had backed a takeover offer from SQM pitched at $3.52 per share in late October, but Hancock subsequently acquired an 18.4 per cent blocking stake in Azure. Hancock and SQM currently have a combined stake of 37.8 per cent in Azure, and have made a cash offer of $3.70 per share. They will pursue an on-market bid priced at $3.65 per share if the scheme of arrangement bid does not succeed.

CORPORATES
AZURE MINERALS LIMITED – ASX AZS, HANCOCK PROSPECTING PTY LTD, SOCIEDAD QUIMICA Y MINERA SA

Allkem shareholders green-light $9.7b Livent merger

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Original article by Elouise Fowler
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 20-Dec-23

Some 89 per cent of proxy votes cast at Allkem’s shareholders meeting on Tuesday were in favour of the proposed merger with US-based Livent. The latter’s shareholders will shortly vote on the deal; the combined entity will be called Arcadium Lithium and is set to be one of the world’s biggest producers of the battery mineral. It will have assets in Western Australia, Canada and Argentina. Allkem’s chairman will take up the same role at Arcadium, while Livent’s Paul Graves will be CEO.

CORPORATES
ALLKEM LIMITED – ASX AKE, LIVENT INCORPORATED, ARCADIUM LITHIUM

Government clamp on AI likely to be part of new media deals

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Original article by Jared Lynch
The Australian – Page: Online : 19-Dec-23

The federal government has endorsed the five recommendations that arose from a review of the news media bargaining code. The government has advised that another review of the code is slated be completed in early 2025, with the aim of ensuring that it remains ‘fit for purpose’ in a rapidly evolving technology environment for news publishers and digital platforms. Artificial intelligence technology was not specifically mentioned, but it may well be included in the next review. News Corp CEO Robert Thomson argued earlier in 2023 that media companies should be compensated when their content is use to train generative AI platforms.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS

Ranger blowout to force raising

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 13-Dec-23

Energy Resources of Australia has advised that rehabilitation costs at the Ranger uranium mine in the Kakadu National Park are now expected to be $2.3bn. This compares with ERA’s previous estimate of between $1.6bn and $2.2bn. The company had $273.6m in cash at the end of September, but it is spending about $55m each quarter on rehabilitation work and corporate costs. It will most likely need to undertake a large capital raising by the end of 2024 in order to finance rehabilitation costs at Ranger over the next four years.

CORPORATES
ENERGY RESOURCES OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX ERA