Coal upstart tips more deals

Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 19-May-16

Stanmore Coal MD Nick Jorss says the listed group is considering further acquisitions in the coal sector, as a number of large players look to divest assets. Stanmore bought the Isaac Plains coking coal mine in Queensland from Vale and Sumitomo in mid-2015. Stanmore has resumed production at the mine and will target annual output of 1.1 million tonnes a year, compared with 2.8 million annually when the mine was mothballed in 2014.

CORPORATES
STANMORE COAL LIMITED – ASX SMR, VALE SA, SUMITOMO CORPORATION, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, ANGLO AMERICAN PLC, PEABODY ENERGY CORPORATION, ARROW ENERGY LIMITED

Pembroke buys $104m Peabody coal projects

Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 22 : 11-May-16

Pembroke Resources has secured a deal to acquire the Olive Downs South, Olive Downs North and Willunga coking coal deposits in Queensland from Peabody Energy Australia in a $A104m deal. The tenements were previously owned by Macarthur Coal, which Peabody acquired in 2011. Pembroke, which is owned by US private equity firm Denham Capital, intends to pursue further acquisitions.

CORPORATES
PEMBROKE RESOURCES PTY LTD, PEABODY ENERGY AUSTRALIA COAL PTY LTD, PEABODY ENERGY CORPORATION, MACARTHUR COAL LIMITED, DENHAM CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LP, CITIC RESOURCES HOLDINGS LIMITED

Carmichael key to easing Indian poverty: Adani

Original article by Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 6 : 8-Apr-16

The Australian Greens has urged the federal and Queensland governments to reverse their approvals for Adani’s Carmichael thermal coal project. However, Adani Australia CEO Jeyakumar Janakaraj says the $A16bn project will increase India’s consumption of cleaner coal and help reduce poverty in the nation. Matt Canavan, the Minister for Northern Australia, adds that if the project does not go ahead India will simply source lower-quality coal from elsewhere.

CORPORATES
ADANI ENTERPRISES LIMITED, ADANI AUSTRALIA COMPANY PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, QUEENSLAND RESOURCES COUNCIL LIMITED, BOWEN BASIN MINING CLUB

Fair Work decision exposes IR flaws: BHP

Original article by Elizabeth Colman
The Australian – Page: 4 : 10-Feb-16

BHP Billiton has criticised the Fair Work Commission for ruling that union officials can hold meetings with employees of the Caval Ridge mine at a dragline cabin rather than the site’s meal-break room. BHP argues that the ruling will adversely affect productivity at the Queensland mine. The dragline cabins are 2.4km from the mine’s meal-break room. The Fair Work Act was amended in 2013 to specify that union officials must hold meetings in meal-break rooms.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT

Stanmore Coal on track to reopen mothballed mine

Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 19 : 18-Dec-15

Nick Jorss, the MD of Australian-listed Stanmore Coal, is confident that the Isaac Plains mine in Queensland will be profitable despite the downturn in the coking coal price. Stanmore will employ about 150 people at the mine, which it bought from Vale and Sumitomo for just $A1 earlier in 2015. The company has targeted April 2016 to commence production.

CORPORATES
STANMORE COAL LIMITED – ASX SMR, VALE SA, SUMITOMO CORPORATION, WHITEHAVEN COAL LIMITED – ASX WHC, FELIX RESOURCES LIMITED, YANCOAL AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX YAL, EXCEL COAL LIMITED, PEABODY ENERGY CORPORATION

Activists fail to block Adani’s mine

Original article by Mark Ludlow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 16-Dec-15

The Land Court of Queensland has recommended that the State Government grant a mining lease to Adani for its proposed Carmichael coal mine. However, Land Court president Carmel MacDonald added that the mine’s approval should be subject to a number of conditions, and concluded that the economic benefits of the $A16.5bn project would be greater than its environmental impact. Environmentalists have sought to block the project.

CORPORATES
ADANI ENTERPRISES LIMITED, LAND COURT OF QUEENSLAND, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, INSTITUTE FOR ENERGY ECONOMICS AND FINANCIAL ANALYSIS, ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENDERS OFFICE LIMITED

NAB cold on Adani’s Carmichael

Original article by Amanda Saunders, Ben Potter
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 3-Sep-15

National Australia Bank is reported to have ruled out investing in Adani’s $A16 billion Carmichael coal project in Queensland. Adani responded by saying it had never approached NAB for funding. Meanwhile, announcing a 15.4 per cent return on its portfolio, Future Fund chairman Peter Costello said the fund would continue to invest in companies where there was an investment case, whether they were mines or banks supporting mines.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, ADANI MINING PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. FUTURE FUND MANAGEMENT AGENCY, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, GREENPEACE, BANK OF TOKYO-MITSUBISHI LIMITED, WHITEHAVEN COAL LIMITED – ASX WHC, NEWCASTLE CITY COUNCIL

Adani mine approvals closer

Original article by Mark Ludlow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 21-Aug-15

The Queensland Government has given preliminary approval for the expansion of the Abbot Point coal terminal, the export hub for the proposed Carmichael mine. The breakthrough was welcomed by Adani, the Indian energy giant, which also expressed frustration with anti-coal activists. Queensland is backing the $A16.5 billion Galilee Basin development to create thousands of jobs.

CORPORATES
QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF ENVIRONMENT AND HERITAGE PROTECTION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT, ADANI ABBOT POINT TERMINAL PTY LTD, ADANI MINING PTY LTD, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND INNOVATION

‘If those projects don’t go, Qld is finished’

Original article by Mark Ludlow, Misa Han
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 20-Aug-15

Townsville mayor Jenny Hill is leading community support for the Adani coal mine, which is bogged down in litigation brought against the $A16.5 billion development by environmental activists. Townsville was hoping to be a hub for fly-in, fly-out workers. "We need the jobs," Hill said as Queensland businesses also threw their weight behind the mine, which will supply coal to India.

CORPORATES
ADANI ENTERPRISES LIMITED, TOWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL, POLLARD PLANT HIRE, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET

Sumitomo deal wide of the mark

Original article by Perry Williams
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 31-Jul-15

Australian-listed Stanmore Coal has paid just $A1 for the Isaac Plains coal mine in Queensland’s Bowen Basin. Japan-based Sumitomo had paid $A430m for Aquila Resources’ 50 per cent stake in the mine in 2011. The downturn in coal prices prompted joint owners Sumitomo and Vale to mothball the mine in September 2014 and put it on the market. Stanmore aims to resume production at Isaac Plains in the first six months of 2016.

CORPORATES
STANMORE COAL LIMITED – ASX SMR, AQUILA RESOURCES LIMITED, SUMITOMO CORPORATION, VALE SA, SHANGHAI BAOSTEEL GROUP CORPORATION, AURIZON HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX AZJ