MINING CORPORATIONS – AUSTRALIA

‘Acquisitions the only way’ for South32

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Original article by Amanda Saunders
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 4-Feb-15

BHP Billiton’s proposed South32 spin-off is slated to debut on the Australian sharemarket by mid-2015. Deutsche Bank’s Paul Young has a valuation of $US13bn ($A16.7bn) on South32, and cautions that the group will have to pursue acquisitions as its scope for organic growth will be limited. He expects South32 to shun BHP’s progressive dividends policy in favour of a payout ratio of 30-40 per cent

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, SOUTH32 LIMITED, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, SOUTH AFRICA COAL

Iron ore set for $6bn in writedowns

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 18 : 28-Jan-15

Provisioning worth $A5.7bn combined due to the falling iron ore price has so far been announced by Australian producers Arrium, Citic Pacific, Atlas Iron, Mount Gibson Iron, Gindalbie Metals and Grange Resources. Fortescue Metals Group may join them when it issues its output data for the December 2014 quarter on 29 January 2015, while the commodity on 27 January declined a further $US2.88 to $US63.54 a tonne. Fortescue shares closed 2.4% lower at $A2.09, after an intraday low of $A1.92 that had not been seen since 2009

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, ARRIUM LIMITED – ASX ARI, ATLAS IRON LIMITED – ASX AGO, MOUNT GIBSON IRON LIMITED – ASX MGX, GINDALBIE METALS LIMITED – ASX GBG, BC IRON LIMITED – ASX BCI, GRANGE RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX GRR, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, CITIC PACIFIC LIMITED, GOLDMAN SACHS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, METAL BULLETIN PLC, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, BAILLIEU HOLST LIMITED

Rio moves to solve Mongolian standoff

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 24 : 27-Jan-15

Australian-listed resources group Rio Tinto has for some time tried to gain approval for an expansion to underground mining at the Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold operation in Mongolia. Rio owns the majority of Turquoise Hill Resources, which in turn holds two thirds of the asset while the Mongolian Government has the rest. It has now emerged that Rio is offering the Government an increased royalty take, worth $US1.6bn ($A2bn), in order to bring the negotiations to a speedy conclusion

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, TURQUOISE HILL RESOURCES LIMITED, OYU TOLGOI LLC

Atlas boss backs royalty easing

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 19 : 21-Jan-15

Atlas Iron has advised that it lost around $US3 for each tonne of iron ore that it shipped in the December 2014 quarter, due to the sharp decline in the price of the steel input. MD Ken Brinsden has welcomed the Western Australian Government’s temporary measure of a 50 per cent rebate on iron ore royalties for smaller producers. He adds that the royalty relief should boost Atlas’s quarterly cash flow by about $A8m in 2015

CORPORATES
ATLAS IRON LIMITED – ASX AGO, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG

Chinese coal quality rules may hit exporters

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Original article by Sarah-Jane Tasker
The Australian – Page: 18 : 13-Jan-15

The ANZ Bank’s Mark Pervan says China’s move to impose quality-control restrictions on coal shipments may adversely affect Australian coal producers. China plans to crack down on the importation of coal whose ash content exceeds 16 per cent. Some 92 per cent of the 40.3 million tonnes of coal imported from Australia in the first 10 months of 2014 exceeded this threshold. Pervan notes that it is costly for producers to subject coal to greater processing in order to reduce its ash content

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, CHINA. NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND REFORM COMMISSION

BHP wants tailings at mine to rise 13 storeys

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 16 : 12-Jan-15

Along with those of other commodities, the price of copper has declined 15% between mid-2014 and January 2015. An earnings drop of $US1.5bn ($A1.8bn) will be suffered by BHP Billiton due to the $US0.50-a-pound drop. The company is asking the Federal Government for permission to increase the size of its tailings storage at the Olympic Dam copper and uranium mine in South Australia by a quarter. The move is part of a minor change at the facility, not a prelude to the large expansion that has been shelved by BHP

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP

Cauldron wins access to Forrest cattle run

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Original article by Andrew Burrell
The Australian – Page: 16 : 8-Jan-15

Western Australian (WA) Mines Minister Bill Marmion has approved a request by the Cauldron Energy company, headed by entrepreneur Tony Sage. It will now be able to conduct exploration drilling for uranium on the "Minderoo" cattle station. The WA Mining Warden’s Court recently sided with the land’s owner, Fortescue Metals Group chair Andrew Forrest, in blocking the access. Onslow Resources had previously gained permission, with some conditions attached, to extract mineral sands at "Minderoo"

CORPORATES
CAULDRON ENERGY LIMITED – ASX CXU, ONSLOW RESOURCES LIMITED, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, MINDEROO PTY LTD, MINING WARDEN’S COURT (WESTERN AUSTRALIA), WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF MINES AND PETROLEUM

Price crash may see BHP pull rigs

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Original article by Amanda Saunders
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 & 20 : 8-Jan-15

West Texas Intermediate crude oil was trading at $US48 per barrel on 7 January 2015. Paul Young of Deutsche Bank suggests that BHP Billiton could potentially reduce the number of drilling rigs it operates in the Permian Basin in the US until there is a sustained rebound in the oil price. Young adds that BHP could delay adding additional drilling rigs until the oil price rises to about $US80/barrel, which may not occur until around 2018

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, DEUTSCHE BANK AG

Rio Tinto primed for $5b buyback

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Original article by Amanda Saunders
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 5-Jan-15

Credit Suisse’s Paul McTaggart suggests that Rio Tinto may pursue an on-market share buyback worth up to $US4bn ($A5bn). He says the resources group could potentially reveal plans for a buyback in February 2015, while Glyn Lawcock of UBS believes that any such buyback will be worth between $US2bn and $US3bn. Both mining analysts also expect Rio Tinto to increase its underlying dividend. The dividend payout ratio was 35 per cent in calendar 2013

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, GLENCORE PLC, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY AND SCIENCE

Timing off, but BHP split still on: investors

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 18-Dec-14

BHP Billiton’s Australian-listed shares have fallen by more than 30 per cent since the group revealed plans to spin off its non-core assets. The stock has been hit by the downturn in the prices of commodities on which BHP will focus if the demerger proceeds. Michelle Lopez of Aberdeen Asset Management expects the demerger to go ahead, adding that it would most likely require a sustained decline in commodity prices for the group to abandon the demerger

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, SOUTH32 LIMITED, ABERDEEN ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED, NIKKO ASSET MANAGEMENT GROUP, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD