MINING CORPORATIONS – AUSTRALIA

Iron ore miners win port export boost

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 22 : 2-Feb-22

Some 523 million tonnes of iron ore were shipped through Port Hedland in 2020-21. The Western Australian government has approved a development plan that could see the port’s iron ore export capacity increase to around 660 million tonnes a year. The government has advised that BHP, Fortescue Metals Group and Roy Hill are each likely to receive a 25 per cent increase in their port allocations. In addition, Hancock Prospecting and Mineral Resources have won the right to build a new berth at Port Hedland.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, ROY HILL HOLDINGS PTY LTD, HANCOCK PROSPECTING PTY LTD, MINERAL RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX MIN

Report damns Rio’s culture of bullying

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 22 : 2-Feb-22

A review of Rio Tinto’s internal culture by former sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick has revealed that inappropriate conduct is rife within the resources giant. More than 48 per cent of employees who participated in the review said they had experienced bullying at work, with workers in the company’s Pilbara iron ore division reporting the highest levels of bullying. In addition, about 28 per cent of female employees said that they had been subjected to sexual harassment, while nearly 40 per cent of indigenous Australian employees said they had been subject to racism within the last five years. Rio Tinto CEO Jakob Stausholm has committed to implementing all of Broderick’s recommendations.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Privacy fight for BHP vax order as miners caught faking jabs

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 19-Jan-22

BHP has defended its decision to require all employees to provide proof of their COVID-19 vaccination status by 31 January. The resources group says it needs all relevant information to ensure that employees are not faking their vaccination status. A spokesman says that immunisation history statements and COVID-19 digital certificates will only be viewed by members of BHP’s health and medical teams. The CFMEU has expressed concern about the privacy implications of BHP’s policy, and has taken the matter to the Fair Work Commission.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA

Covid-19 crimps Rio Tinto iron ore

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 13 & 14 : 19-Jan-22

Rio Tinto’s latest production report shows that its iron ore shipments fell by three per cent to 321.6 million tonnes in calendar 2021. This is at the lower end of its revised target for the year, which was scaled back to between 320 and 325 million tonnes in October. The resources group expects its iron ore shipments in 2022 to be within the range of 320 to 335 million tonnes; however, the company has cautioned that its full-year guidance could be affected by any new outbreak of COVID-19 as Western Australia reopens its borders. Rio Tinto also reported lower full-year production of copper, titanium dioxide, bauxite and aluminium.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Activists target Adani as first coal leaves Carmichael

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Original article by Mark Ludlow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 1-Dec-21

The first shipment of thermal coal from Adani’s controversial Carmichael mine in Queensland is expected to leave the Abbot Point terminal within weeks. The India-based company, whose Australian mining division trades as Bravus Mining & Resources, has begun test runs on the 206km rail link from the mine to Abbot Point. However, anti-coal activists have been targeting the rail link ahead of the first shipment, prompting Bravus to urge the state government to introduce harsher penalties for activists whose conduct puts themselves and others at risk.

CORPORATES
ADANI ENTERPRISES LIMITED, BRAVUS MINING AND RESOURCES

Low-carbon steel’s cost challenges stand in the way of greener Pilbara

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 12 : 25-Nov-21

BHP estimated in 2020 that 72 per cent of the world’s steel mills are blast furnaces, which use iron ore and coking coal. However, they also generate carbon dioxide in the steel-making process, even if the plant is powered by renewable energy. Electric arc furnaces are an alternative to traditional blast furnaces, and use either scrap metal or direct reduced iron as feedstock. Rio Tinto is working on a project to make direct reduced iron using ‘green’ hydrogen rather than methane, which is a greenhouse gas. Rio Tinto has cautioned that converting the world’s steel industry to this process would require massive amount of renewable energy.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Unvaxxed BHP miners agree to get the jab

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 5 : 25-Nov-21

BHP has advised that fewer than 35 workers at its Mt Arthur coal mine have yet to provide evidence that they are vaccinated against COVID-19. The resources group recently stood down nearly 80 of the mine’s workers under its mandatory vaccination policy. The CFMEU and the ACTU are challenging the validity of this policy in the Fair Work Commission, contending that BHP did not comply with the consultation requirements of the Work, Health and Safety Act.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, ACTU, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

Forrest defends bid to axe diesel rebate

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 15 & 18 : 24-Nov-21

Fortescue Metals Group founder Andrew Forrest says the diesel fuel rebate costs taxpayers about $5bn a year at present. He adds that a small number of large mining and energy companies receive the bulk of the rebate, and he has urged the federal government to start phasing it out between 2025 and 2030. However, Forrest says the rebate should only be scrapped for large mining and energy companies, and it should be retained for farmers and other small business than rely upon it. The Mineral Council of Australia is among the critics of Forrest’s push to have the rebate scrapped.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE FUTURE INDUSTRIES PTY LTD, MINERAL COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

Atlas maps out iron-clad profit for a third year

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Original article by John Stensholt
The Australian – Page: 18 : 24-Nov-21

Atlas iron has posted a 2020-21 net profit of $938m, which is 146 per cent higher than previously. The junior iron ore miner is owned by Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting, which paid $427m for the company in 2018. Atlas Iron’s revenue was up 66 per cent to $1.7bn, and its Mt Webber and Sanjiv Ridge mines shipped a combined 9.7 million tonnes of iron ore during the financial year. Shipments from the Sanjiv Ridge mine began in 2020-21. Rinehart’s Roy Hill mine recently posted a net profit of $4.4bn for the financial year.

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

BHP miners sent home without pay

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 5 : 11-Nov-21

BHP imposed a deadline of 10 November for all workers at its Mt Arthur open-cut coal mine to receive their first COVID-19 shot under its mandatory vaccination policy. BHP has advised that almost 80 unvaccinated workers at the mine have been stood down without pay, although it will not take any further action until the Fair Work Commission issues a ruling on a legal challenge to the vaccination policy. The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union had sought to delay implementation of the policy. Workers at all other BHP sites must be vaccinated by the end of January.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION