MINING CORPORATIONS – AUSTRALIA

More BHP coal mines sitting on rocky ground

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian – Page: 15 : 21-Apr-26

BHP is believed to have commenced a review of its coking coal mines in Queensland, which are owned by its BMA joint venture with Japan-based Mitsubishi. The future of the coal mines has been under scrutiny since the state’s former Labor government introduced a controversial coal royalty scheme in 2022. The spot price of premium hard coking coal is trading above $300 per tonne, so BHP is currently paying the top royalty rate of 40 per cent. There are fears of more job losses at BMA after 750 workers were retrenched in September 2025, a move that was partially attributed to the royalty regime.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, BM ALLIANCE COAL OPERATIONS PTY LTD, MITSUBISHI CORPORATION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

BHP nears end to China iron ore pricing and contracts dispute

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian – Page: 13 & 20 : 15-Apr-26

BHP has declined to comment on media reports that China Mineral Resources Group Company has told a number of steel mills that they can buy some of the resources group’s Pilbara iron ore with US dollars. The possible breakthrough in the dispute, which began when CMRG imposed unofficial bans on BHP’s Jimblebar fines product in 2025, follows a visit to China by BHP’s CEO Mike Henry and his successor Brandon Craig. They are believed to have met with officials from both CMRG and steel giant Baowu. Craig will formally succeed Henry on 1 July, and has indicated that resolving the iron ore dispute is one of his top priorities.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, CHINA MINERAL RESOURCES GROUP COMPANY LIMITED, CHINA BAOWU STEEL GROUP CORPORATION LIMITED

Miners fear diesel price surge

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian – Page: 15 : 8-Apr-26

Listed gold producers Capricorn Metals and Ramelius Resources have indicated that the supply of diesel to their Australian mines has not yet been affected. However, Capricorn says diesel supply is a ‘material risk’ for the nation’s mining industry, while Ramelius has contingency plans in the event of fueld rationing or other supply restrictions. Meanwhile, Robex Resources says it has a 30-day supply of diesel at its Kiniero gold mine in Guinea; CEO Matthew Wilcox says supply chains have not been disrupted and the price of diesel in Guinea has risen by about five per cent since the Iran war began. Guinea imports all of its liquid fuels, and the nation does not have an oil and gas industry.

CORPORATES
CAPRICORN METALS LIMITED – ASX CMM, RAMELIUS RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX RMS, ROBEX RESOURCES INCORPORATED – ASX RXR

Rio, BHP win opens land for US copper mine

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Original article by Jessica Gardner
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 18-Mar-26

The Resolution Copper joint venture between Rio Tinto and BHP in Arizona has been stalled for more than a decade. However, hopes that the project will finally proceed have been boosted after a court rejected an application to block a transfer of land from the US Forest Service to the resources groups. The Forest Service subsequently completed the transfer of land, although opponents of the project have filed an appeal against the court ruling. The copper deposit was discovered in 1995, and Rio Tinto executive Katie Jackson says it could potentially supply up to 25 per cent of the US’s copper demand for many years.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO,BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP,RESOLUTION COPPER MINING LLC,UNITED STATES. FOREST SERVICE

Woodside, BHP circle Slattery

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Original article by Perry Williams, Colin Packham, Brad Thompson
The Australian – Page: 13 & 19 : 11-Mar-26

Woodside Energy’s chairman Richard Goyder says its board is assessing a number of internal and external candidates to succeed former CEO Meg O’Neill; a decision is expected by the end of March. BHP’s president for Australia, Geraldine Slattery, is considered to the leading external candidate for the role, although she is also in contention to replace CEO Mike Henry when he eventually steps down; there is market speculation that BHP will name Henry’s successor by August. Saul Kavonic from MST Marquee says that recruiting an external candidate may be challenging for Woodside, given that its executive remuneration is below that of its global peers.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE ENERGY GROUP LIMITED – ASX WDS, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, MST MARQUEE

Union boss slams miner over right-of-entry complaints

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian – Page: 13 & 19 : 11-Mar-26

BHP’s CEO Mike Henry recently noted that its iron ore mines are dealing with an unprecedented level of right-of-entry requests, amid an ongoing push to re-unionise the Pilbara under the federal goverment’s industrial relations reforms. Unions have in turn criticised BHP’s decision to outsource the processing of Pilbara right-of-entry requests to the Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Western Australia, noting that rivals such as Rio Tinto still do this in-house. The CCIWA has advised that it processed 844 right-of-entry requests for BHP’s mines in 2025, while it has processed 168 so far in 2026.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA (INCORPORATED), RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Rio Tinto fights shareholder over NT uranium site

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 4-Mar-26

Zentree Investments is the second-largest shareholder in Energy Resources of Australia. It contends that Rio Tinto’s takeover offer for ERA of $0.02 per share undervalues the former uranium miner, which ceased production at the Ranger mine in 2021; Zentree estimates that ‘fair value’ would be around $0.3102 per share. Rio Tinto values ERA’s undeveloped Jabiluka uranium deposit at zero because it does not think the traditional owners would allow it be mined; however, Zentree argues that the Mirarr people do not have the right to veto development of Jabiluka, and any future owner of the project would not be bound by ERA’s pledge to not undertake mining without the consent of the Mirrar.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, ENERGY RESOURCES OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX ERA, ZENTREE INVESTMENTS

Queensland private coal miner joins state’s royalties graveyard

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian – Page: 13 & 14 : 25-Feb-26

Privately-owned coal miner Vitrinite has been placed in the hands of voluntary administrators from Cor Cordis and receivers from KordaMentha. Vitrinite’s assets include the Vulcan coking coal mine in Queensland’s Bowen Basin. A spokesperson for KordaMentha says it will shortly begin the process of selling or recapitalising Vitrinite’s assets. Vitrinite’s collapse has put further scrutiny on the Queensland government’s controversial coal royalty regime, which it inherited from the former Labor government and has refused to change.

CORPORATES
VITRINITE PTY LTD, COR CORDIS PTY LTD, KORDA MENTHA AND COLLEAGUES PTY LTD

BHP warns on unions’ advance

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian – Page: 15 & 24 : 18-Feb-26

BHP has posted a 2025-26 interim profit of $US5.64bn ($7.9bn), which is 28 per cent higher than previously; revenue increased by 11 per cent to $US27.9bn ($39.5bn). Copper was a key driver of BHP’s half-year result, with the energy transition metal exceeding earnings from iron ore for the first time; copper accounted for 51 per cent of BHP’s underlying EBITDA of $US15.5bn, and CEO Mike Henry has described the earnings shift as a ‘milestone’. Meanwhile, Henry has expressed concern about the growing push to reunionise the Pilbara in the wake of industrial relations reforms during the federal government’s first term in office; he notes that there has been a big increase in unions’ right-of-entry requests at its iron ore mines.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP

Fortescue pursues green tick for new mine

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian – Page: 17 : 18-Feb-26

Fortescue recently submitted an application to develop the Wyloo North iron ore mine to Western Australia’s Environmental Protection Authority. Fortescue estimates that the mine’s carbon emissions will peak at nearly 99,000 tonnes per annum during the two-year construction phase, and up to 53,300 tonnes a year when it is operational. Fortescue’s mining CEO Dino Otranto emphasises that the emissions forecasts are based on the company’s current iron ore mines, and Wyloo North will be designed to operate without the use of fossil fuels. Fortescue has set a net-zero emissions target of 2030 for its mining operations.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE LIMITED – ASX FMG, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AUTHORITY