MINING CORPORATIONS – AUSTRALIA

Police launch Palmer probe

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Original article by Hedley Thomas
The Australian – Page: 4 : 24-Nov-14

Chinese state enterprise Citic Pacific is reportedly handing over material to police in Western Australia (WA) that could lead to fraud charges against federal MP and businessman Clive Palmer. His Mineralogy vehicle is accused by Citic in a series of civil cases of making unauthorised withdrawals worth $A12m-plus from an account for an iron ore mining joint venture. The funds are claimed to have been used for the 2103 election campaign of the Palmer United Party. Citic wants WA Supreme Court judge David Jackson QC to rule that Palmer acted fraudulently and dishonestly

CORPORATES
CITIC PACIFIC LIMITED, CHINA INTERNATIONAL TRUST AND INVESTMENT CORPORATION, MINERALOGY PTY LTD, PALMER UNITED PARTY, WESTERN AUSTRALIAN POLICE SERVICE, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, SUPREME COURT OF QUEENSLAND, SUPREME COURT OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY, GROUP OF TWENTY (G-20), ABC TV, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

MinRes close to mothballing iron ore mines

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Original article by Tess Ingram
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 20 : 21-Nov-14

The price of iron ore is currently trading at around $US70.20 per tonne, its lowest level in more than five years. Mineral Resources MD Chris Ellison says the group will suspend production at its iron ore mines in Western Australia if the price falls below its cash costs. He adds that it is very close to this point. Ellison forecasts that the iron ore price will trade within a range of $US75-$US85 per tonne over the next several years

CORPORATES
MINERAL RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX MIN, BC IRON LIMITED – ASX BCI, IRON ORE HOLDINGS LIMITED

Roy Hill the target as Rinehart kids chase Gina’s assets

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Original article by Leo Shanahan, Andrew Burrell
The Australian – Page: 8 : 20-Nov-14

The private Hancock Prospecting vehicle of mining heiress Gina Rinehart owns 70% of the major Roy Hill iron ore project in Western Australia. It has become the subject of the latest court action against Rinehart by her two oldest children, after a previous case relating to her role as trustee of the $A4bn billion Hope Margaret Hancock Trust. Following the lifting of a suppression order by Federal Court judge Peter Jacobson, it has emerged that John Hancock and Bianca Rinehart now dispute their mother’s ownership of the Hope Downs, Mulga Downs and Roy Hill tenements

CORPORATES
HANCOCK PROSPECTING PTY LTD, ROY HILL IRON ORE PTY LTD, MULGA DOWNS IRON ORE PTY LTD, HOPE DOWNS IRON ORE PTY LTD, HOPE MARGARET HANCOCK TRUST, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, THE HANCOCK FAMILY MEMORIAL FOUNDATION LIMITED, HANCOCK RESOURCES LIMITED, SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES, MARUBENI CORPORATION, CHINA STEEL CORPORATION, POSCO

Rio gets EPA approval for Pilbara mine

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Original article by Tess Ingram
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 26 : 19-Nov-14

Rio Tinto has received approval from the Western Australian Environmental Protection Authority for its Koodaideri iron ore mine in the Pilbara region. The approval is subject to a number of conditions. The new mine is forecast to yield some 70 million tonnes of iron ore each year, but Glyn Lawcock of UBS says Rio Tinto can achieve its annual target of 360 million tonnes without the mine’s contribution

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AUTHORITY, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, MOUNT BRUCE MINING PTY LTD

BHP pulls Nickel West sale as no buyer found

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Original article by Barry FitzGerald
The Australian – Page: 20 : 13-Nov-14

BHP Billiton has abandoned its efforts to divest the Nickel West mining and smelting assets, as it was unable to find a buyer willing to pay a suitable price. The operations had been excluded from the non-core divisions to be hived off into a new listed entity by BHP as it concentrates on iron ore, copper, petroleum and coal. Analysts’ valuations for Nickel West had fluctuated wildly between $A250m and $A1bn, and the sale was hampered by a drop in the commodity’s price from $US21,000 a tonne in May 2014 to $US15,451 in November

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, WESTERN AREAS LIMITED – ASX WSA, INDEPENDENCE GROUP NL – ASX IGO, MINCOR RESOURCES NL – ASX MCR, PANORAMIC RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX PAN, NICKEL WEST, GLENCORE PLC, JINCHUAN NON-FERROUS METALS IMPORT AND EXPORT COMPANY

Citi, ANZ price forecast grim for high-cost iron ore

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Original article by Amanda Saunders
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 28 : 12-Nov-14

The ANZ Bank’s Mark Pervan doubts that the iron ore price will return to $US100 per tonne, and forecasts that the steel input will trade at $US78/tonne in 2015. Citigroup expects the iron ore price to trade at $US65/tonne in 2015 and 2016. The firm has downgraded its recommendation on Atlas Iron and Mount Gibson Iron stock from "neutral" to "sell", and Fortescue Metals Group has been downgraded from "buy" to "neutral"

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, ATLAS IRON LIMITED – ASX AGO, MOUNT GIBSON IRON LIMITED – ASX MGX, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP

Palmer mine bid rejected

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Original article by Andrew Burrell
The Australian – Page: 5 : 5-Nov-14

Western Australian (WA) magistrate Stephen Wilson has found against the Mineralogy group, and declared its mining ­licence application in breach of the federal Native Title Act as well as WA’s Mining Act. The private vehicle of billionaire and federal MP Clive Palmer has also been criticised by the traditional Kuruma Marthudunera land owners, with Yamatji Marlpa Aboriginal Corporation CEO Simon Hawkins noting that Mineralogy has been cited by the mining warden over such flawed practices three times in a decade

CORPORATES
MINERALOGY PTY LTD, MINING WARDEN’S COURT (WESTERN AUSTRALIA), FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, YAMATJI MARLPA BARNA BABA MAAJA ABORIGINAL CORPORATION

Palmer cut $6m pre-poll cheque

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Original article by Hedley Thomas
The Australian – Page: 8 : 31-Oct-14

Chinese state enterprise Citic Pacific is suing private vehicles of iron ore joint venture partner Clive Palmer over alleged unauthorised access to an account and the withdrawal of a total $A12,167,065. Evidence tendered to the Supreme Court of Queensland shows some of the funds were channelled to the Media Circus Network public relations firm during the federal election campaign of the Palmer United Party. The latest document lodged by the defence indicates that a cheque for $A6m was written by Palmer personally

CORPORATES
CITIC PACIFIC LIMITED, PALMER UNITED PARTY, SINO IRON PTY LTD, MEDIA CIRCUS NETWORK PTY LTD, SUPREME COURT OF QUEENSLAND, COSMO DEVELOPMENTS PTY LTD, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, MINERALOGY PTY LTD, KOREAN STEEL PTY LTD

Whitehaven blasts ‘FIFO’ activists

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Original article by Sarah-Jane Tasker
The Australian – Page: 22 : 29-Oct-14

The 28 October 2014 AGM of Whitehaven Coal was addressed by chair Mark Vaile, who criticised the actions of protesters against its Maules Creek mine as well as against the fossil fuels sector in general. He argued that the company had built good relations with local residents in the Gunnedah Basin, and that the environmentalists were from elsewhere and were financed by overseas organisations. MD Paul Flynn also stressed that the activists were acting illegally and preventing workers from performing their jobs

CORPORATES
WHITEHAVEN COAL LIMITED – ASX WHC, GREENPEACE AUSTRALIA PACIFIC LIMITED

BHP’s $20m gift

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Original article by Phoebe Wearne
The West Australian – Page: 1 : 24-Oct-14

Resources giant BHP Billiton will donate $A4m to Western Australia’s annual Telethon, which will be held on the weekend of 25-26 October 2014. In total, BHP will donate $A20m to the Telethon Kids Institute over a five-year period. The mining group’s philanthopy has been praised by Institute director Jonathan Carapetis and Channel 7 Telethon Trust chairman Kerry Stokes

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, TELETHON KIDS INSTITUTE, TELETHON INSTITUTE FOR CHILD HEALTH RESEARCH, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM