MINING CORPORATIONS – AUSTRALIA

Power is still on after five years at FMG, so what’s next?

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Original article by Tess Ingram
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 16 : 18-Jul-16

Fortescue Metals Group has significantly reduced its debt and ramped up iron ore production since Nev Power succeeded Andrew Forrest as CEO on 18 July 2011. Fortescue’s "C1" cost of production was around $US50 per tonne at the start of Power’s tenure, but some analysts believe that it may have come close to achieving its goal of reducing this to $US13/tonne in 2015-16. Fortescue exceeded its full-year production target of 165 million tonnes, with shipments for the fiscal year totalling 169.4 million.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

BHP set to miss iron ore target as tough year continues

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 20 : 15-Jul-16

In April 2016, BHP Billiton scaled back its forecast for iron ore shipments from Western Australia in 2015-16 to 260 million tonnes, compared with original guidance of 270 million. However, BHP may have failed to achieve its revised target. Iron ore shipments from Port Hedland for the financial year totalled 454.2 million tonnes, with rival producers estimated to have accounted for about 196 million tonnes. This would suggest that BHP’s share of iron ore shipments was around 258 million tonnes.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, ROY HILL HOLDINGS PTY LTD, ATLAS IRON LIMITED – ASX AGO, MINERAL RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX MIN, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, SAMARCO MINERACAO SA, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Iron ore miners reaping the benefits from soaring prices

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Original article by Peter Ker, Jessica Sier, Tess Ingram
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 20 : 14-Jul-16

The share prices of BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals Group rallied on 13 July 2016, as the benchmark iron ore price continued to rise. UBS recently estimated that Fortescue’s break-even price is around $US32 per tonne, which is believed to be still slightly above the break-even price of both BHP and Rio Tinto. Meanwhile, Fortescue has advised that its iron ore shipments totalled 169.4 million tonnes in 2015-16, compared with its guidance of 165 million tonnes.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, MOUNT GIBSON IRON LIMITED – ASX MGX, ROY HILL HOLDINGS PTY LTD, MARUBENI CORPORATION, BC IRON LIMITED – ASX BCI, ATLAS IRON LIMITED – ASX AGO, VALE SA, STEELHOME, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MINERAL RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX MIN, MESA MINERALS LIMITED – ASX MAS, PITCHER PARTNERS CORPORATE ADVISORY PTY LTD

It’s ore or nothing for Fortescue

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Original article by James Thomson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 28 : 13-Jul-16

Citigroup and UBS believe that Fortescue Metals Group will exceed its forecast for iron ore production of 165 million tonnes in 2015-16. Expectations of bullish full-year output have been heightened by data showing that shipments of iron ore from the Port of Hedland reached a record high in June. Clarke Wilkins of Citigroup estimates that Fortescue’s full-year production may have topped 168 million tonnes, while its port capacity could be up to 180 million tonnes. He suggests that there is the potential for Fortescue to use the cost savings from its debt-reduction program to increase its production to this level.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Roy Hill’s ramp-up puts pedal to the metal for Port Hedland

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Original article by Peter Ker, Tess Ingram
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 12-Jul-16

The Roy Hill iron ore project has progressively increased the number of monthly shipments since exports began in December 2015. A spokesman for Roy Hill Holdings says 12 ships were loaded in June 2016, and the project is on track to reach full production of 55 million tonnes a year by the end of 2016. However, Macquarie Group forecast earlier in the year that the Roy Hill project will fall short of its production target, noting that achieving full production often takes a new project several years.

CORPORATES
ROY HILL HOLDINGS PTY LTD, HANCOCK PROSPECTING PTY LTD, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, POSCO, MARUBENI CORPORATION, CHINA STEEL CORPORATION, SAMSUNG C&T CORPORATION, DURO FELGUERA SA, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, ATLAS IRON LIMITED – ASX AGO

Chances for asset bargains rare: BHP CFO

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Original article by James Thomson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 11-Jul-16

BHP Billiton’s CFO Peter Beaven says the resources giant is still on the lookout for mergers and acquisitions opportunities, but he stresses that such deals are not a priority. BHP is particularly interested in copper and petroleum assets, but Beaven acknowledges that there are limited opportunities to acquire quality assets at an appropriate price at present. Rio Tinto CEO Jean-Sebastian Jacques also recently indicated that the company will not pursue acquisitions that do not create value.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, FREEPORT-McMORAN COPPER AND GOLD INCORPORATED, CHINA MOLYBDENUM COMPANY LIMITED, BARRICK GOLD CORPORATION, ANTOFAGASTA PLC, SOUTH32 LIMITED – ASX S32

Upbeat outlook puts Dacian at record level

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Original article by Barry FitzGerald
The Australian – Page: 22 : 8-Jul-16

Dacian Gold’s executive chairman Rohan Williams is confident that the gold mining company’s exploration program at the Callisto project in Western Australia will bring the desired results. Williams’ presentation at the Sydney Mining Club prompted a revaluation of the stock, which rose $A0.19 to $A3.49 on 7 July 2016.

CORPORATES
DACIAN GOLD LIMITED – ASX DCN, SYDNEY MINING CLUB, DELTA GOLD LIMITED

A golden bet on Dacian that paid off for the ‘Kalgoorlie Mafia’

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 19 & 22 : 7-Jul-16

Shares in Dacian Gold reached a record high of $A3.38 on 6 July 2016, compared with less than $A0.30 in early 2015. Dacian is poised to become one of Australia’s 10 largest gold producers when the Mount Morgans project is commissioned in 2018. Dacian will shortly release the results of a drilling program at its Westralia deposit, while drilling will commence at its Callisto prospect in August. CEO Rohan Williams and a group of investors injected $A10m worth of seed capital into Dacian in 2012.

CORPORATES
DACIAN GOLD LIMITED – ASX DCN, RANGE RIVER GOLD LIMITED, BLUE OCEAN EQUITIES PTY LTD, GOLD FIELDS LIMITED

Rio Tinto sells shuttered coal mine for $1

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 14 : 5-Jul-16

Australian-listed TerraCom will pay just $A1 for Rio Tinto’s Blair Athol thermal coal mine in Queensland. The deal was Rio Tinto’s third attempt to divest the mine, which was mothballed in 2012. However, Rio Tinto will contribute to the cost of rehabilitating some 50 hectares of land that has already been mined at the site. TerraCom aims to resume production at the mine by the end of 2016.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, TERRACOM LIMITED – ASX TER, LINC ENERGY LIMITED, BLAIR ATHOL COAL, J-POWER AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, JAPAN COAL DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, STANMORE COAL LIMITED – ASX SMR, VALE SA

BHP nod to $US200m copper expansion drive

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Original article by James Thomson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 11 : 5-Jul-16

Resources giant BHP Billiton will increase the capacity of the Los Colorados concentrator at its Escondida copper mine in Chile. Danny Malchuk, the head of BHP’s Minerals Americas division, believes that the project will cost less than the $US200m that has been budgeted. Expansion of the concentrator will allow the Escondida mine to increase annual production by between 150,000 and 200,000 tonnes. The project is slated for completion by mid-2017.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, SAMARCO MINERACAO SA