MINING CORPORATIONS – AUSTRALIA

‘Opportunistic’ buyer Glencore still on acquisition hunt

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 15-Dec-14

Glencore chairman Tony Hayward is not expected to discuss a potential merger with Rio Tinto during a visit to Australia in mid-December 2014. Rio Tinto revealed in early October that Glencore had approached the group about a merger, and Switzerland-based Glencore is widely tipped to make another approach in 2015. Glencore CEO Ivan Glasenberg recently indicated that the group remains keen to pursue acquisitions

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, GLENCORE PLC, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, NICKEL WEST, BANK OF MONTREAL, VALE SA, AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF COMPANY DIRECTORS

Court dismisses Palmer’s attempts to thwart Citic

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 20 : 12-Dec-14

Supreme Court of Western Australia (WA) judge James Edelman has ruled in a matter that forms part of the wider and drawn-out legal battle between Chinese state enterprise Citic Pacific and the Mineralogy vehicle of federal MP Clive Palmer. The latter had sought to have declared invalid two environmental permits held by Citic for the Sino Iron joint venture in WA. This was rejected by the court, and Edelman also criticised Mineralogy for attempting to drag out the proceedings even further

CORPORATES
MINERALOGY PTY LTD, CITIC PACIFIC LIMITED, SINO IRON PTY LTD, SUPREME COURT OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF ENVIRONMENT REGULATION

Cyber squatters nab South32, poke their tongue at BHP

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Original article by Paul Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 10-Dec-14

BHP Billiton has ruled out buying the South32.com domain name, which is owned by a company based in Malibu. It is believed to have demanded $A10m to surrender the name. BHP recently revealed South32 as the name of the spin-off that will hold its non-core assets, and says it was not willing to pay the price being sought by the domain name’s owner. Experts say BHP should have ensured that it owned the .com domain as well as related domain names

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, .AU DOMAIN ADMINISTRATION LIMITED, FABULOUS DOMAINS, DARK BLUE SEA LIMITED, KARI BIAN FILM COMPANY, SOUTH32 LIMITED, NTEGRITY PTY LTD

BHP Billiton names spinoff ‘South32’

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 9-Dec-14

BHP Billiton has revealed that the selection of a business name for its proposed spin-off was based on the suggestion of an employee. South32 will be based in Perth and hold BHP’s non-core assets in Australia, South Africa and South America. The name is derived from the location of the bulk of its assets. Brand specialist Designworks also assisted BHP in developing a name for the new company

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, SOUTH32 LIMITED, DESIGNWORKS LIMITED, AUSTRALAND PROPERTY GROUP, BANK OF MELBOURNE LIMITED, OFFICEWORKS SUPERSTORES PTY LTD

Miners forgo exploration

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Original article by Tess Ingram
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 8-Dec-14

MinEx Consulting MD Richard Schodde expects Australian resources group to continue reducing their expenditure on exploration programs in the near-term. Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows that mining companies spent just $A439.8m on exploration in the September 2014 quarter, compared with more than $A1bn in March 2012. Schodde notes that the decline in exploration will adversely affect government revenue

CORPORATES
MINEX CONSULTING PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG

Shock exit by Fortescue execs stokes job cut fears

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 22 : 4-Dec-14

In a surprise move, Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) has announced the departures of high-ranking executives from the iron ore mining group. Director of developments Peter Meurs, director of health, safety, environment and security Isak Buitendag, director of shared services Peter Thomas and senior manager Kevin McCafferty have all stepped down. The news has sparked fears about job security among FMG staff, given the recent rapid fall of the iron ore price. On 3 December 2015 FMG stock gained $A0.14 to close at $A2.71

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, WORLEYPARSONS LIMITED – ASX WOR, WESTOZ FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY LTD

Rio pushes for nuclear power in energy debate

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Original article by Annabel Hepworth
The Australian – Page: 20 : 2-Dec-14

Submissions have been lodged with the Australian Government’s new energy white paper taskforce. Rio Tinto argues that nuclear power should not automatically be ruled out as an option for the nation as it seeks to curb its greenhouse gas emissions. Fellow uranium producer BHP Billiton says in order for Australia to cash in on the growing demand for energy worldwide, local labour market laws must be relaxed to boost productivity. Others to make submissions are ANZ Banking, Peabody Energy and Qantas Airways

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, PEABODY ENERGY AUSTRALIA COAL PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE

Test for Rio spending

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 28-Nov-14

Paul Young of Deutsche Bank believes that Rio Tinto’s investor briefing on 28 November 2014 will include plans to proceed with the Silvergrass iron ore mine in Western Australia. He expects Rio’s board to approve the greenfields mine during the December quarter, despite its recent moves to reduce capital expenditure. Rio aims to increase annual iron ore exports from 290 million tonnes to 360 million. Silvergrass is expected to boost output to about 330 million tonnes

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, GLENCORE PLC, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY. BUREAU OF RESOURCES AND ENERGY ECONOMICS, CLSA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, DOMINION DIAMOND CORPORATION

Palmer in bid to stop fraud ruling

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Original article by Sarah Elks
The Australian – Page: 2 : 27-Nov-14

Supreme Court of Queensland judge David Jackson is hearing a claim by Chinese state enterprise Citic Pacific against its iron ore mining joint venture partner, federal politician Clive Palmer. Citic alleges that he improperly accessed an account and withdrew $A12.167m to fund his election campaign. Simon Couper QC, acting for Palmer, has formally conceded some of the points and argues the case should now be dropped. Andrew Bell SC, for Citic, says the admissions merely show that fraud did occur

CORPORATES
MINERALOGY PTY LTD, CITIC PACIFIC LIMITED, COSMO DEVELOPMENTS PTY LTD, MEDIA CIRCUS NETWORK PTY LTD, SUPREME COURT OF QUEENSLAND, SINO IRON PTY LTD, PALMER UNITED PARTY

BHP to live within its means

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Original article by Amanda Saunders
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 19 : 25-Nov-14

BHP Billiton has indicated that its focus will be on maximising production at its existing assets rather than pursuing large acquisitions. CEO Andrew Mackenzie has told an investor briefing that any future acquisitions are likely to be restricted to conventional oil and gas assets. BHP will also continue to seek productivity improvements and reduce capital expenditure, with plans to scale back the latter by $US600m in 2014-15 and $US1bn in 2015-16

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, HESS CORPORATION, CHEVRON CORPORATION, CITIGROUP PTY LTD