MINING CORPORATIONS – AUSTRALIA

Lithium explorer may face class action

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Tom Richardson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 : 21-Dec-22

Law firm Johnson Winter Slattery is set to launch a class action against lithium explorer AVZ Minerals. The legal action will be financed by litigation funder Omni Bridgeway, and centres on AVZ’s disclosures regarding the Manono lithium project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It will be alleged that AVZ breached its continuous disclosure obligations and misled investors over its rights to the project. AVZ’s shares have been in a trading halt since early May.

CORPORATES
AVZ MINERALS LIMITED – ASX AVZ, JOHNSON WINTER AND SLATTERY, OMNI BRIDGEWAY LIMITED – ASX OBL

Juukan Gorge community back mining model

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 14-Dec-22

Rio Tinto and the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura people are close to finalising a co-management agreement for the Brockman 4 iron ore mine in the Pilbara. PKKP Aboriginal Corporation chairman Burchell Hayes believes that such agreements could provide stronger protection for heritage sites than federal and state laws. He adds that the federal government did not adequately consult with traditional owners regarding proposed legislation that is designed to protect heritage sites. The legislation arose from a parliamentary inquiry into Rio Tinto’s destruction of ancient Indigenous rock shelters at Juukan Gorge as part of an expansion of the Brockman 4 mine.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, PKKP ABORIGINAL CORPORATION

Many mining stocks overvalued, warns UBS

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Tom Richardson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 : 14-Dec-22

Shares in BHP have gained 36 per cent in US dollar terms since the end of October. However, UBS analyst Lachlan Shaw says the firm believes that the stock has risen too quickly in a short period of time. UBS has a ‘sell’ rating on BHP and rival iron ore producers Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals Group. The firm also expects the iron ore price to trade at around $US100 a tonne over the first half of 2023, compared with about $US112/tonne at present; it is then forecast to fall to around $US95 a tonne in the December 2023 quarter. UBS is more upbeat about commodities such as gold, coal, zinc and lithium.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Rinehart shakes up Hancock leadership

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 7-Dec-22

Hancock Prospecting has unveiled changes to the leadership structure of its core iron ore business that will take effect from 30 January. The dual CEO structure for Roy Hill and Atlas Iron will be abolished, with Roy Hill CEO Gerhard Veldsman to assume responsibility for Hancock’s entire iron ore operations. Atlas Iron’s current CEO Sanjiv Manchanda will take up a new role as CEO of growth projects at Hancock, while Roy Hill’s inaugural CEO Barry Fitzgerald will become technical director for iron ore.

CORPORATES
HANCOCK PROSPECTING PTY LTD,{SPAC}ROY HILL HOLDINGS PTY LTD,{SPAC}ATLAS IRON LIMITED

Debelle steps down as Fortescue CFO in latest reshuffle

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 14 & 18 : 24-Nov-22

Fortescue Metals Group has appointed Felicity Gooding as the interim chief financial officer at its clean energy subsidiary, Fortescue Futures Industries. This follows Guy Debelle’s decision to step down as CFO; he took up the role in March following his retirement from the Reserve Bank of Australia, where he had been the deputy governor. Debelle is still recovering from injuries sustained in a bike accident in August, and says this means he cannot do justice to the role of CFO. He will instead join FFI’s board of directors.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, FORTESCUE FUTURE INDUSTRIES PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Forrest’s Fortescue joins rare earth race

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 16 : 23-Nov-22

Fortescue Metals Group’s executive chairman Andrew Forrest has told its AGM that the company aims to expand into critical minerals. He said Fortescue has "kicked off a global stream of work" in South America aimed at securing access to critical minerals such as rare earths. He added that rare earths will be critical to Fortescue Future Industries’ projects in manufacturing, renewables and hydrogen. Forrest also said that Fortescue is close to gaining a preliminary mining licence for the Belinga iron ore project in Gabon, and that it plans to commence drilling early in 2023.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, FORTESCUE FUTURE INDUSTRIES PTY LTD

Fortescue exports up, prices down

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 13 & 17 : 28-Oct-22

Fortescue Metals Group has advised that its Pilbara iron ore shipments totalled 47.5 million tonnes in the September quarter, four per cent higher than the previous corresponding period. Fortescue expects full-year shipments for 2022-23 to be within the range of 187 million to 192 million tonnes. Meanwhile, the iron ore miner’s average cash production costs rose 16 per cent year-on-year, to $US17.69 a tonne. Fortescue chairman Andrew Forrest says rising fuel prices was the major contributor to the higher production costs during the period. Meanwhile, the average price Fortescue received for its iron ore fell to $US87.43 per dry metric tonne.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG

Gold miner St Barbara smashed by skills, gear shortage

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 & 24 : 19-Oct-22

St Barbara has advised that its gold production for 2022-23 will be within the range of 260,000 to 290,000 ounces. It had forecast full-year output of between 280,000 ounces and 315,000 ounces in mid-September. The company has attributed the production downward to labour shortages at its flagship Gwalia mine, which posted a significant fall in output for the September quarter. St Barbara sold 62,726 ounces of gold during the period, at an average price of $2,486 per ounce. Its shares closed nearly 22 per cent lower at $0.525 on Tuesday.

CORPORATES
ST BARBARA LIMITED – ASX SBM

Rio enlists Wrights to unlock phenomenal iron ore play

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Peter Ker, Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 24 : 19-Oct-22

Rio Tinto hopes to commence production at the Rhodes Ridge iron ore deposit in the East Pilbara by 2030 after reaching agreement with Wright Prospecting to modernise their joint venture arrangement. The original agreement was signed in 1972, and Rhodes Ridge has been the subject of a long-running legal dispute between the descendants of Pilbara iron ore pioneers Peter Wright and Lang Hancock. Rio Tinto’s head of iron ore Simon Trott notes that most of the ore grade at Rhodes Ridge is above the benchmark level of 62 per cent iron content. Meanwhile, Rio Tinto has advised that it shipped 82.9 million tonnes of iron ore in the September quarter.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, WRIGHT PROSPECTING PTY LTD

Traditional owners compare FMG damage to Juukan Gorge

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 12-Oct-22

Fortescue Metals Group faces a compensation claim from the Yindjibarndi people over the construction of its Solomon iron ore hub in the Pilbara. The compensation claim is based on a Federal Court ruling that part of the Solomon hub was built without the permission of the traditional owners. Fortescue has been accused of destroying sacred and significant sites, and the Yindjibarndi’s compensation claim will be based on factors such as cultural loss, pain and suffering, and economic loss. The Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation has likened the cultural significance of the traditional owners’ losses to Rio Tinto’s destruction of ancient Indigenous rock shelters at Juukan Gorge.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, YINDJIBARNDI ABORIGINAL CORPORATION, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO