MINING CORPORATIONS – AUSTRALIA

Canadian bank axes analysts in Newcrest fiasco

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Original article by Anthony Klan
The Australian – Page: 21 : 26-Jun-14

Newcrest Mining has agreed to pay a penalty of $A1.2m for selectively briefing analysts in late May 2013. The Australian Securities & Investments Commission told the Federal Court that the company breached its continuous disclosure obligations by not informing the wider market as well of its downgraded gold output figures, but the analysts were not to blame. However, Geoff Breen and Michael Orphanides as well as head of research Peter Main departed Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) in mid-2013, soon after it received the inside knowledge from Newcrest. The investment bank has declined to comment

CORPORATES
NEWCREST MINING LIMITED – ASX NCM, ROYAL BANK OF CANADA, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, BANK OF AMERICA AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MERRILL LYNCH (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, CREDIT SUISSE AG, COLONIAL FIRST STATE GLOBAL ASSET MANAGEMENT, COLONIAL HOLDING COMPANY LIMITED – ASX CNG, MACQUARIE BANK LIMITED – ASX MBL

Swimmer stars in family feud

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Original article by Hannah Low
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 25-Jun-14

The Supreme Court of New South Wales on 24 June 2014 continued hearing the dispute over the Hope Margaret Hancock Trust, which owns 23.4% of Hancock Prospecting. Mining heiress Gina Rinehart is accused by two of her children of improperly controlling the entity. Daughter Bianca Rinehart argues she is fit to take over as trustee, and was cross-examined by Richard McHugh SC on behalf of younger sibling Ginia Rinehart. It was also revealed by Chris Withers, acting for Bianca Rinehart, that close friend and Olympic swimmer Grant Hackett was contacted by the mother on 22 June

CORPORATES
HANCOCK PROSPECTING PTY LTD, HOPE MARGARET HANCOCK TRUST, SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Mine activist in jail

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Original article by Lisa Cox
The Age – Page: 12 : 24-Jun-14

Some 1,000 people demonstrated on 22 June 2014 at a rare earths processing plant in Kuantan, Malaysia, against Australian-listed owner Lynas Corporation. There have been fears by residents about the potential impact of radioactive waste. After the protest became violent, 16 arrests were made. Among those detained is Australian anti-mining campaigner Natalie Lowrey, who faces a charge under Malaysia’s Immigration Act for breaching visa regulations

CORPORATES
LYNAS CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX LYC, HIMPUNAN HIJAU, PAKATAN RAKYAT

Rinehart feud risks iron ore project: daughter

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Original article by Andrew Burrell
The Australian – Page: 6 : 24-Jun-14

Supreme Court of New South Wales judge Paul Brereton will on 24 June 2014 hear more on the suit brought by John Hancock and Bianca Rinehart against their mother, mining heiress Gina Rinehart. The issue is the latter’s control of a family trust that owns 23.4% of Hancock Prospecting and a stake worth $A10bn in the Hope Downs iron ore tenements. The daughter will argue that she is qualified to act as the new trustee after her mother has stepped down, and that to appoint someone from outside the family may trigger a clause under which partner Rio Tinto would acquire all of Hope Downs

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, HANCOCK PROSPECTING PTY LTD, HOPE DOWNS IRON ORE PTY LTD, HOPE MARGARET HANCOCK TRUST, SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Iron ore price fall hits minnows

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Original article by Barry FitzGerald, Michael Owen
The Australian – Page: 21 and 22 : 20-Jun-14

Iron ore mining groups in Australia may lose revenue worth $US30bn ($A32.5bn) combined due to the decline in the price of the commodity. It traded at $US90.30 per tonne on 19 June 2018, down $US44.70 from the average seen in calendar 2013. Especially hard hit will be smaller producers with operations that have high input costs, and already Ferrier Hodgson has been made administrator of Termite Resources. The company owned by IMX Resources and Taifeng Yuan Chuang International started shipments from its Cairn Hill mine in South Australia in late 2010. The iron ore price at that time was $US170

CORPORATES
IMX RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX IXR, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, TERMITE RESOURCES NL, TAIFENG YUANCHUANG INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LIMITED, FERRIER HODGSON AND COMPANY, ASX LIMITED – ASX ASX, MMG PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, SOUTH AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF TREASURY AND FINANCE

Rinehart’s charity for billionaires

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Original article by Jonathan Barrett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 23-Jun-14

At the 2012 Association of Mining & Exploration Companies (AMEC) congress in Perth, a new award was announced by mining heiress Gina Rinehart. It was to be handed to the identity in the resources sector who did the most to counter attacks by parts of the media, and to voice uncomfortable truths in public. However, the $A50,000 in prize money was not paid in 2013, and nor will the upcoming 2014 AMEC event feature the award. Instead Rinehart gave the funds in November 2013 to fellow billionaire Len Buckeridge, at a National Mining and Related Industries Day ceremony in Brisbane

CORPORATES
HANCOCK PROSPECTING PTY LTD, ASSOCIATION OF MINING AND EXPLORATION COMPANIES, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, BGC (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, VISY INDUSTRIES AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Disclosure breaches cost Newcrest $1.2m

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Original article by Barry FitzGerald
The Australian – Page: 19-20 : 6/19/2014

Gold mining sector leader Newcrest Mining has admitted it engaged in the selective briefing of analysts in 2013. The penalty agreed on in a compromise with the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) and still to be ratified by the Federal Court is $A1.2m, an all-time high for such a continuous disclosure rules breach. Newcrest also faces the threat of a class action law suit launched on behalf of affected investors by Slater & Gordon. The mining group had staged its own investigation of the breach, with Prime Minister’s Business Advisory Council chair Maurice Newman clearing it. However he did not have the same powers as ASIC

CORPORATES
NEWCREST MINING LIMITED – ASX NCM, SLATER AND GORDON LIMITED – ASX SGH, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. PRIME MINISTER’S BUSINESS ADVISORY COUNCIL, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, ASX LIMITED – ASX ASX, CITIBANK PTY LTD, RBC CAPITAL (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA

Rio joins Fortescue in cutting iron ore prices

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Original article by Angus Grigg, Lisa Murray
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 22 : 6/19/2014

Rio Tinto will reduce the price of low-grade iron ore by 13 per cent to around $US73 per tonne, in the wake of the fall in the benchmark price. The discount takes effect from 1 July 2014, and follows a similar move by Fortescue Metals Group. Tim Murray of J Capital Research notes that there has been a decline in demand for lower-grade iron ore

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, J CAPITAL RESEARCH COMPANY LIMITED, CITIC RESOURCES HOLDINGS LIMITED, MYSTEEL.COM LIMITED, DEZHENG RESOURCES HOLDING COMPANY LIMITED, BANK OF CHINA GROUP, CITIC GROUP

Glut forces FMG to offer big discounts

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Original article by Lisa Murray, Angus Grigg
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 18-Jun-14

New apartment sales and construction in China have declined significantly, creating a knock-on effect for steel prices and therefore iron ore exporters in Australia. The latter commodity’s price has fallen 34% between the start of calendar 2014 and mid-June, to $US89 a tonne. Fortescue Metals Group, which has ramped up production of lower-grade ore from 60 million tonnes per annum to 150 million since 2012, is lifting the discount it offers Chinese buyers to 14% from 1 July. This compares with just 2% in mid-2013

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, STEEL HOME, GOLDMAN SACHS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, PLATTS, J CAPITAL RESEARCH COMPANY LIMITED, DEUTSCHE BANK AG