MINING CORPORATIONS – AUSTRALIA

Orocobre tips ongoing demand for lithium

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 22 : 20-Sep-16

Australian-listed Orocobre has posted a 2015-16 loss of $US21.9m ($A29m). However, CEO Richard Seville is upbeat about the outlook for lithium, and he believes that producers will struggle to meet growing global demand. Orocobre produced 6,903 tonnes of lithium in 2015-16, and the group forecasts output of at least 15,000 tonnes in 2016-17. It has also advised that its Salar de Olaroz project in Argentina should reach nameplate capacity in the current financial year.

CORPORATES
OROCOBRE LIMITED – ASX ORE, GALAXY RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX GXY, PILBARA MINERALS LIMITED – ASX PLS, NEOMETALS LIMITED – ASX NMT

Big gains from small Pilbara changes

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Original article by Tess Ingram
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 19-Sep-16

The Gina Rinehart-backed Roy Hill iron ore project shipped its first iron ore from the Pilbara in late 2015. The use of technology is a key feature of the $A10bn project. Amongst other things, it uses drones to undertake surveying work, and it is trialling automated truck refuelling technology. BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto have deployed driverless trucks at their Pilbara mines, but Roy Hill Holdings Barry Fitzgerald says the company does not think the technology has a sufficient cost benefit.

CORPORATES
ROY HILL HOLDINGS PTY LTD, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL

Resource stocks in vogue again on back of China hopes

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Original article by Jessica Sier
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 19-Sep-16

The uncertain outlook for the Chinese economy weighed on both commodity prices and resources stocks earlier in 2016. However, Australia’s resources sector is back in favour with investors, amid growing optimism about the Chinese economy. Whitehaven Coal has gained 250 per cent in the year to date, while pure-play iron ore producer Fortescue Metals Group has risen by 164 per cent.

CORPORATES
WHITEHAVEN COAL LIMITED – ASX WHC, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, SYRAH RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX SYR, OROCOBRE LIMITED – ASX ORE, GALAXY RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX GXY, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, HSBC AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, REGAL FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, SOUTH32 LIMITED – ASX S32

Major derailment disrupts supply side of coking coal

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 16-Sep-16

Shipments from the Abbot Point coal terminal in Queensland will be affected by a derailment on Aurizon Holdings’ Northern train line in the Bowen Basin. The incident will affect Glencore’s Newlands coking coal mine and BHP Billiton’s Goonyella/Riverside mine. Damage to the train line is expected to take about a week to repair, and the reduced supply could put upward pressure on the coking coal price, which has risen by 100 so far in 2016.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, GLENCORE PLC, AURIZON HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX AZJ, AURIZON NETWORK PTY LTD, ANGLO AMERICAN COAL, QCOAL PTY LTD, SOUTH32 LIMITED – ASX S32, MITSUBISHI CORPORATION, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, PACIFIC NATIONAL PTY LTD

Fortescue shares sink as Vale deal stalls

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Original article by James Thomson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 15-Sep-16

Vale’s Peter Poppinga says a proposed iron ore blending joint venture with Fortescue Metals Group is unlikely to be finalised before the end of 2016. He says negotiations between the two groups are taking longer than anticipated, with the pricing of their iron ore products believed to be a key issue. Fortescue CEO Nev Power has been more upbeat, suggesting in July that the deal could be finalised in the near-term. Fortescue shares have gained 153 per cent so far in 2016.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, VALE SA, BLOOMBERG LP

FMG closer to investment grade rating

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 14-Sep-16

Pure-play iron ore producer Fortescue Metals Group will repay $US700m ($A925m) worth of debt that is scheduled to mature in 2019. This will cut its debt obligations for 2019 to just $US2.88bn. Fortescue repaid $US2.9bn of debt in 2015-16, and the latest move will reduce its interest costs by $US26 a year. Peter O’Connor of Shaw & Partners expects Fortescue to further reduce its debt in the current financial year. Fortescue’s credit rating remains below investment grade, and Matthew Moore of Moody’s has ruled out a re-rating at present.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, SHAW AND PARTNERS LIMITED, MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE INCORPORATED, STANDARD AND POOR’S CORPORATION, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS

BHP eyes coal-fired station to ease shortage

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Original article by Rebecca Puddy
The Australian – Page: 6 : 13-Sep-16

BHP Billiton is the biggest user of electricity in South Australia, and a spokesman says it is considering a range of options for its electricity requirements in the near-term. This could potentially include resuming production at Alinta Energy’s mothballed coal-fired Northern Power Station in Port Augusta. BHP could also consider the construction of a combined-cycle gas turbine to meet the energy needs of its Olympic Dam mine.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, ALINTA ENERGY (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, FLINDERS POWER PTY LTD, SOUTH AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, SOUTH AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF ENVIRONMENT, WATER AND NATURAL RESOURCES

Innovation agenda must embrace mining: Costello

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 13-Sep-16

Former treasurer Peter Costello has used a Minerals Council of Australia function to stress that the mining industry has a role in the Federal Government’s "innovation agenda". He argued that the so-called "new economy" needs traditional industries such as mining and agriculture. Costello also criticised a push by Western Australian National Party leader Brendon Grylls to increase the iron ore levy paid by BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto from $A0.25 per tonne to $A5.

CORPORATES
MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, AUSTRALIA. FUTURE FUND MANAGEMENT AGENCY

Miners lash Joyce’s ore comments

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Original article by James Thomson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 12-Sep-16

Minerals Council of Australia CEO Brendan Pearson has described a proposed levy on iron ore production in Western Australia as a "bad idea" that will adversely affect both the sector and suppliers. Federal National Party leader Barnaby Joyce has been criticised after saying that he understood the motivations for state counterpart Brendon Grylls in proposing that the iron ore levy paid by BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto be increased from $A0.25 per tonne to $A5.

CORPORATES
MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

South32 chief docked $1.2m over mining deaths in Africa

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Original article by Tess Ingram
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 28 : 9-Sep-16

The annual report of South32 shows that the Australian-listed group’s safety record in South Africa was reflected in the remuneration of senior executives in 2015-16. The miner’s board slashed the short-term incentive payments of CEO Graham Kerr and other top executives after four fatal incidents at its South African mines and aluminium smelter during the financial year. This is estimated to have reduced Kerr’s total remuneration by around $A1.2m.

CORPORATES
SOUTH32 LIMITED – ASX S32