IRON ORE – WESTERN AUSTRALIA

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

Fortescue plans huge wind and solar farm

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 18 : 10-Feb-22

Fortescue Metals Group’s clean energy arm has revealed plans to build a wind and solar energy farm to provide renewable energy for the Eliwana iron ore mine in the Pilbara. The proposed renewable energy hub will be partially built on the Uaroo pastoral station, which is owned by a subsidiary of Andrew Forrest’s private investment arm, Tattarang. Fortescue Future Industries plans to commence work on the project as soon as it receives environmental approval from the Western Australian government.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE FUTURE INDUSTRIES PTY LTD, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, TATTARANG PTY LTD

Relief as almost all BHP workers from Yandi mine test negative for Covid

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Original article by Danielle Le Messurier
The West Australian – Page: Online : 3-Feb-22

BHP appears to have avoided a large outbreak of COVID-19 at its Yandi iron ore mine in the Pilbara. BHP had ordered 78 workers to self-isolate at its Spinifex accommodation village after a rail maintenance contactor tested positive and spread the virus to a close contact. Most of the workers have now been cleared of the virus and have been released from isolation. However, 18 close contacts of the two positive cases must remain in isolation for 14 days, while BHP has not yet received the test results for one casual contact.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP

Iron ore miners win port export boost

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 22 : 2-Feb-22

Some 523 million tonnes of iron ore were shipped through Port Hedland in 2020-21. The Western Australian government has approved a development plan that could see the port’s iron ore export capacity increase to around 660 million tonnes a year. The government has advised that BHP, Fortescue Metals Group and Roy Hill are each likely to receive a 25 per cent increase in their port allocations. In addition, Hancock Prospecting and Mineral Resources have won the right to build a new berth at Port Hedland.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, ROY HILL HOLDINGS PTY LTD, HANCOCK PROSPECTING PTY LTD, MINERAL RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX MIN

Covid-19 crimps Rio Tinto iron ore

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 13 & 14 : 19-Jan-22

Rio Tinto’s latest production report shows that its iron ore shipments fell by three per cent to 321.6 million tonnes in calendar 2021. This is at the lower end of its revised target for the year, which was scaled back to between 320 and 325 million tonnes in October. The resources group expects its iron ore shipments in 2022 to be within the range of 320 to 335 million tonnes; however, the company has cautioned that its full-year guidance could be affected by any new outbreak of COVID-19 as Western Australia reopens its borders. Rio Tinto also reported lower full-year production of copper, titanium dioxide, bauxite and aluminium.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

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

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