MINING CORPORATIONS – AUSTRALIA

Elders’ heartbreak at Fortescue mine brawl

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 7 : 8-Mar-23

The Federal Court has been told that Fortescue Metals Group iron ore mining operations in the Pilbara have split the Yindjibarndi people and resulted in an ongoing feud between them. The Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation was granted exclusive native title rights in 2017 to the land that now comprises Fortescue’s Solomon mining hub. Yindjibarndi elders Margaret Read and Tootsie Daniel have told the Federal Court that their people became divided following the formation of a breakaway group called the Wirlu-Murra Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation, which has since secured lucrative contracts at the Solomon hub. They also expressed their anguish over the impact that mining has had on the Yindjibarndi people’s land.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, YINDJIBARNDI ABORIGINAL CORPORATION, WIRLU-MURRA YINDJIBARNDI ABORIGINAL CORPORATION

Rio pays $22m to settle probe into Simandou

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 8-Mar-23

Rio Tinto has agreed to pay $US15m ($22m) to settle the US Securities & Exchange Commission’s investigation into payments it made to a Guinean political adviser. The SEC found that Rio Tinto had violated accounting and record-keeping standards by failing to properly document its engagement with Francois de Combret, who had been hired in 2011 to help the company to secure the mining rights to the Simandou iron ore deposit. The scandal resulted in the termination of two senior Rio Tinto executives in 2016.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, UNITED STATES. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Foreign ownership of gold mines would rise above 50pc if Newmont-Newcrest deal goes ahead, analyst says

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Original article by Jarrod Lucas
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 6-Mar-23

Data from Surbiton Associates shows that Australia produced 313 tonnes of gold in 2022, which is equivalent to 10 million ounces. This compares with 315 tonnes in 2021 and a record 327 tonnes in 2020. Surbiton MD Sandra Close notes that Australian ownership of local gold mines is currently about 60 per cent, but this would fall to below 50 per cent if Newmont’s $24bn takeover bid for Newcrest Mining succeeds. Close adds that local ownership of the gold industry was around 80 per cent in the early 2000s, before offshore buying activity saw it fall to a low of less than 30 per cent.

CORPORATES
SURBITON ASSOCIATES PTY LTD, NEWCREST MINING LIMITED – ASX NCM, NEWMONT CORPORATION

Federal government blocks Yuxiao Fund’s bid to increase its stake in Northern Minerals

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Original article by Stephen Dziedzic, Daniel Mercer
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 1-Mar-23

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has blocked an application from the Singapore-registered Yuxiao Fund to increase its stake in rare earths producer Northern Minerals from nearly 10 per cent to 19.9 per cent. Chalmers is said to have signed an order to block the transaction on 15 February, following a recommendation from the Foreign Investment Review Board. Northern Minerals’ executive chairman Nick Curtis says the fund is an investment vehicle for Chinese national Yuxiao Wu. Northern Minerals operates the Browns Range mine in Western Australia’s east Kimberley region, and it aims to become the first substantial producer of dysprosium outside of China.

CORPORATES
NORTHERN MINERALS LIMITED – ASX NTU, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD

BHP to shed coal plays as profit falls

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 15 & 23 : 22-Feb-23

BHP has posted a 2022-23 interim net profit of $US6.46bn ($9.4bn), which is 24 per cent lower than previously. Rising costs and a fall in the iron ore price weighed on BHP’s earnings for the half-year. BHP has advised that unit costs at its flagship Pilbara iron ore operations rose by 13 year-on-year to $US18.30 per tonne, while it expects unit costs for the full year to be within the range of $US18 to $US19 a tonne. BHP has also revealed plans to sell its Daunia and Blackwater coking coal mines in order to focus on six export-quality mines that are held by its joint venture with Mitsubishi.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, MITSUBISHI CORPORATION

Barrick out, but analysts say Newmont offer won’t land Newcrest

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 16 : 8-Feb-23

Shares in Newcrest Mining rose 1.7 per cent to $24.95 on Tuesday. Newmont Corporation’s takeover offer comprises 0.38 of its shares for every Newcrest share, giving its bid an implied value of about $27.16 per share when it was launched. Jon Mills of Morningstar and Kate McCutcheon of Citigroup are among the analysts who are of the view that Newmont’s offer undervalues Newcrest. Meanwhile, Barrick Gold Corporation’s CEO Mark Bristow has ruled out making a rival bid for Newcrest.

CORPORATES
NEWCREST MINING LIMITED – ASX NCM, NEWMONT CORPORATION, MORNINGSTAR PTY LTD, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, BARRICK GOLD CORPORATION

$24b Newcrest bid not enough

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 16 : 7-Feb-23

Investors Mutual portfolio manager Tim Wood says the acquisition of Newcrest Mining by Newmont Corporation makes sense, and there is the potential for a counter-bid. However, Wood contends that Newmont’s offer of 0.38 of its shares for every Newcrest share is insufficient; he adds that the bid is also opportunistic, given that Newcrest does not have a permanent CEO at present. Meanwhile, Newmont president Tom Palmer says the US-based gold producer believes that the proposed $24.4bn merger is a "powerful value proposition" for the two companies’ shareholders, employees and the communities in which they operate.

CORPORATES
NEWCREST MINING LIMITED – ASX NCM, NEWMONT CORPORATION, INVESTORS MUTUAL LIMITED

Why Forrest is so keen on rare earths

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Original article by Tom Parker
Australian Resources & Investment – Page: Online : 1-Feb-23

Fortescue Metals Group founder Andrew Forrest became a cornerstone investor in rare earths miner Hastings Technology Metals in 2022, via his private company, Wyloo Metals. Forrest says he is "very interested in rare earths", which are essential to the green energy technologies that are being developed by FMG’s Fortescue Future Industries offshoot. A subsidiary of FFI recently built a prototype battery that uses rare earths; the battery will be shipped to FMG’s iron ore mines in the Pilbara for testing in a battery-electric haulage truck.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, FORTESCUE FUTURE INDUSTRIES PTY LTD, HASTINGS TECHNOLOGY METALS LIMITED – ASX HAS, WYLOO METALS PTY LTD

Evolution puts mill expansion on table

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 14 : 25-Jan-23

Evolution Mining produced 166,404 ounces of gold during the December quarter, which is three per cent higher than the previous three months. Production at the flagship Cowal mine in NSW rose by 33 per cent to 76,676 ounces, although output at the Red Lake mine in Canada fell by 30 per cent to 24,960 ounces. Meanwhile, CEO Lawrie Conway says Evolution has completed a feasibility study on the proposed expansion of the processing plant at its Mungari mine in Western Australia; the company’s board will consider the proposal in February. The expansion was put on hold in mid-2022 due to concerns about rising construction costs and a labour shortage in WA.

CORPORATES
EVOLUTION MINING LIMITED – ASX EVN

Coal plan could mean supplying at cost

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Original article by Nick Evans, Perry Williams
The Australian – Page: 2 : 20-Jan-23

BHP’s production report for the December quarter shows that it expects each tonne of coal produced at its Mt Arthur mine in NSW to cost up to $US91 ($132) per tonne in 2022-23. This compares with the price cap of $125 per tonne that the state government has imposed on thermal coal that is supplied to the Liddell and Bayswater power stations. BHP may be forced to supply up to 1.5 million tonne of coal at cost to the power stations under the state government’s domestic coal reservation policy. The existing policy implemented in late 2022 applied to a small number of thermal coal producers, but it will be broadened to include major producers such as BHP and Whitehaven Coal.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, WHITEHAVEN COAL LIMITED – ASX WHC