MINING CORPORATIONS – AUSTRALIA

Judge rejects Clive Palmer’s halt bid – now for the case

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Original article by Hedley Thomas
The Australian – Page: 1 : 21-Oct-14

Supreme Court of Queensland judge David Jackson has ruled that a court case brought by Chinese state enterprise Citic against businesses of iron ore venture partner Clive Palmer will go ahead. It is alleged that he took more than $A12m out of a joint bank account and then used the funds to finance the 2013 federal election campaign of his Palmer United Party. Jackson conceded that a compromise solution put forward by Palmer’s Mineralogy vehicle should perhaps have been accepted by Citic before launching the legal action

CORPORATES
MINERALOGY PTY LTD, CITIC PACIFIC LIMITED, CHINA INTERNATIONAL TRUST AND INVESTMENT CORPORATION, COSMO DEVELOPMENTS PTY LTD, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, MEDIA CIRCUS NETWORK PTY LTD, PALMER UNITED PARTY, SUPREME COURT OF QUEENSLAND

Iron price not going anywhere, says BHP

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Original article by Amanda Saunders
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 & 16 : 20-Oct-14

The iron ore price is currently trading at around $US83 per tonne. Mike Henry of BHP Billiton says the price could briefly rise above $US100/tonne, but he does not expect such a price to be maintained in the long-term. Henry has justified BHP’s decision to ramp up iron ore production, arguing that if it did not then another miner would do so in Australia or elsewhere. Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals Group are also increasing their output

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, VALE SA, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET

Sandfire wins recast of ‘incorrect’ profile

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Original article by Sarah-Jane Tasker
The Australian – Page: 20 : 17-Oct-14

The Australian National University (ANU) recently announced that it would divest the shares of seven resources groups, after concerns about them were raised by adviser Centre for Australian Ethical Research (CAER). Among those affected was Sandfire Resources, but CAER has now said it will edit its assessment of the miner after talks with MD Karl Simich. He says his business has been unfairly tarnished by being included on the list despite factual inaccuracies in CAER’s report. Simich stresses that he backs ANU’s right in principle to make its own investment decisions

CORPORATES
SANDFIRE RESOURCES NL – ASX SFR, CENTRE FOR AUSTRALIAN ETHICAL RESEARCH PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

Iron ore glut spurs ‘race to bottom’

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Original article by Jemima Whyte, Matthew Stevens
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 21 : 13-Oct-14

Australian producers BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto are responding to the recent dramatic decline of the iron ore price with a boost in output. The strategy is being criticised by Nev Power, CEO of third-ranked competitor Fortescue Metals Group, as well as by Alberto Calderon. The latter had spearheaded the ultimately abandoned plan to merge BHP and Rio, and also argues that a currently rumoured takeover bid for Rio by Swiss resources house Glencore would not reverse the price trend for iron ore

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, GLENCORE PLC, PLATINUM ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED – ASX PTM, PERPETUAL LIMITED – ASX PPT, PERPETUAL INVESTMENTS

Rio’s high iron ore volume fends off rivals, says Harding

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Original article by Amanda Saunders
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 10-Oct-14

Rio Tinto plans to ramp up its iron ore output from around 295 million tonnes per year to 360 million tonnes, despite the recent sharp decline in the price of the steel input. Andrew Harding, the head of Rio’s iron ore division, says the iron ore price would rally in the short-term if his company shelved its expansion strategy. However, he argues that some 32 iron ore projects worldwide would go ahead in the wake of such a decision by Rio, which would ultimately affect the long-term price of iron ore

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, GLENCORE PLC, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, VALE SA, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET

Glencore tilts at Rio expansion

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Original article by Amanda Saunders
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 11 : 8-Oct-14

Takeover speculation prompted a rally in the Australian-listed shares of Rio Tinto on 7 October 2014, with the stock rising 4.3 per cent to $A60.07. The resources group rebuffed a takeover approach from Glencore in August, and has indicated that it is not holding any merger talks with the commodities trader and miner. However, Glencore CEO Ivan Glasenberg is believed to be keen to pursue a merger with Rio Tinto

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, GLENCORE PLC, XSTRATA AG, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, ALUMINIUM CORPORATION OF CHINA LIMITED

BHP’s big cost crusher

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 18 : 7-Oct-14

BHP Billiton will invest nearly $A2bn to increase its iron ore exports from 225 million tonnes in 2014-15 to 290 million tonnes by mid-2017. The resources giant aims to reduce its cost per tonne to less than $A20, and it will seek to displace Rio Tinto as the lowest-cost iron ore exporter to China. In 2013 Rio Tinto unveiled a strategy to increase its iron ore exports to around 330 million tonnes, eventually rising to 360 million

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, PENGANA CAPITAL LIMITED

$2 sale adds to gloom in ailing coal sector

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Original article by Sarah-Jane Tasker
The Australian – Page: 20 : 3-Oct-14

The benchmark price for metallurgical coal negotiated by Japanese steel producers with Australian mining groups has been set at $US119 a tonne for the final three months of calendar 2014. This compares with a peak of $US330 in 2011 and is a low last seen in 2008. The slump has already triggered widespread redundancies in Queensland by companies such as BHP Billiton. The malaise in the sector has now also been underlined by a deal in which Up Energy Development Group will pay just $US2 to Marubeni and Winsway Enterprises to acquire Grande Cache Coal in Canada

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, UP ENERGY DEVELOPMENT GROUP LIMITED, GRANDE CACHE COAL CORPORATION, WINSWAY COKING COAL HOLDINGS LIMITED, MARUBENI CORPORATION, SUMITOMO CORPORATION, VALE SA, DEUTSCHE BANK AG

Lynas plunges on $83m raising

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Original article by Sarah-Jane Tasker
The Australian – Page: 19 : 30-Sep-14

The stock of Australian-listed rare earths mining group Lynas Corporation on 29 September 2014 closed 25.22% lower at $A0.086. Investors reacted negatively to news that the company was staging a share issue designed to source $A83m in fresh capital, after posting a 2013-14 loss of $A13.1m. The issue price for the shares will be $A0.08. New institutional stockholders are set to account for $A12m, which Lynas will allocate to servicing of its current liabilities

CORPORATES
LYNAS CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX LYC, SOJITZ CORPORATION, JAPAN OIL GAS AND METALS NATIONAL CORPORATION

Mining wages too high, says Mitsui

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Original article by Amanda Saunders
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 26-Sep-14

Mitsui Australia CEO Yasushi Takahashi has questioned whether the nation’s high wages in the mining sector are sustainable. He argues that productivity needs to improve in order to justify the high labour costs relative to other resources-rich countries. Meanwhile, Takahashi expects the price of coal and iron ore to begin to recover by the end of 2014, and he suggests that the oversupply of iron ore could potentially be over by 2017

CORPORATES
MITSUI AND COMPANY (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, MITSUI AND COMPANY LIMITED, SIMS METAL MANAGEMENT LIMITED – ASX SGM, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL