MINING CORPORATIONS – AUSTRALIA

Fortescue vindicated on hydrogen

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 14 : 7-Jul-21

Fortescue Metals Group has outlined the progress it has achieved in its goal of making its iron ore operations carbon-neutral by 2030. The pure-play producer has advised that it has produced high-purity ‘green’ iron from its Pilbara iron ore via a trial decarbonisation project that is being run by its Fortescue Future Industries subsidiary. The trials have also resulted in the production of ‘green’ cement by combining waste from the green iron process with other materials.

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

No more welcome to country for Rio Tinto, Indigenous owners say

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Original article by Lorena Allan
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 6-Jul-21

The Eastern Guruma people have told Rio Tinto that they will no longer perform ‘welcome to country’ ceremonies at any of its events or any events that it sponsors. They have also refused to have any meetings with Rio Tinto for at least three months. The Eastern Guruma people are angry with Rio Tinto after it was revealed that priceless cultural materials rescued from their sacred sites were thrown in a rubbish tip in the 1990s, and that Rio did not tell them of the error. Forty per cent of Rio’s Pilbara mine holdings in Western Australia are on Eastern Guruma traditional lands.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Coal mine gets $175m federal loan

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Original article by Mark Ludlow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 2-Jul-21

The $5 billion Northern Australian Infrastructure Facility has approved a $175 million loan to Pembroke Resources for its proposed Olive Downs coking coal mine in Queensland. The mine will support up to 700 jobs during its construction phase and over 500 jobs when it is up and running. Approval of the loan for the Olive Downs project comes only two months after federal Resources Minister Keith Pitt vetoed a $280 million loan by the NAIF for a wind farm project in North Queensland.

CORPORATES
NORTHERN AUSTRALIA INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITY, PEMBROKE RESOURCES PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, SCIENCE, ENERGY AND RESOURCES

Rio shuts down violence-riven South African mine

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 : 1-Jul-21

Rio Tinto has declared force majeure on customer contracts at its Richards Bay mineral sands project in South Africa. The resources giant has put all work at the mine and smelter on hold amid growing violence targeting the project’s workers, plant and equipment. Rio Tinto executive Sinead Kaufman says the safety of workers at the project is its top priority. The increasing violence directed at the Richards Bay project is believed to be linked to employment opportunities for local workers.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, RICHARDS BAY MINERALS

BHP sacks second worker accused of rape

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 24-Jun-21

News that BHP has sacked a second worker accused of rape will not encourage women or men to join the mining industry, according to women in mining advocate Sabina Shugg. The two former employees are both ‘fly in, fly out’ workers accused of raping female colleagues in unrelated incidents. Both have denied the police charges against them and have accused BHP of unfair dismissal.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP

BHP to overtake Rio in premium iron ore

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 7-Jun-21

BHP could soon become Australia’s biggest exporter of ‘lump’ iron ore following the recent start of production at its new South Flank mine in the Pilbara. Lump iron ore is a premium product that attracts a higher price than ‘fines’, which is Australia’s biggest iron ore export. Lump iron ore can be used in steel-making without first undergoing the sintering process, which is both energy-intensive and generates carbon emissions. The South Flank mine will increase the proportion of lump in BHP’s iron ore exports to 30-33 per cent, compared with 24-25 per cent in recent years.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP

Lynas funds jabs for staff in Malaysia

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 27-May-21

Lynas Rare Earths has responded to Malaysia’s third wave of COVID-19 by advising that workers at its processing plant will be offered employer-sponsored vaccines. The Australian-listed company has also booked out an entire hotel near the plant so workers do not have to mix in the wider community when their shifts end. A spokeswoman says there are no plans to offer vaccinations for Lynas employees in Australia, and has urged them to participate in the federal government’s vaccine rollout.

CORPORATES
LYNAS RARE EARTHS LIMITED – ASX LYC

BHP hiring as it faces critical lack of drivers

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 27-May-21

BHP plans to hire an additional 200 train drivers for its iron ore operations in the Pilbara, in response to what has been described as a ‘critical’ shortage in the sector. BHP’s iron ore asset president Brandon Craig says the new trainees will have "rewarding careers" at the resources group, which suggests that BHP will not follow Rio Tinto in shifting to driverless trains. BHP uses automated trucks at its Jimblebar iron ore mine, while the Gina Rinehart-backed Roy Hill aims to fully automate its fleet of trucks by 2023.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, ROY HILL HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Pleas for Premier to back mine extension

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Original article by Michael McKenna
The Australian – Page: 4 : 26-May-21

New Hope Corporation recently advised that production at the New Acland coal mine in Queensland will end later in 2021 unless a long-delayed expansion is approved. The approvals process has been stalled for nearly 13 years due to a series of legal challenges and the state government’s inertia. The mine’s workforce has been reduced from 320 to just 120 since 2019, and the remaining workers face retrenchment. Federal Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon has urged the state government to approve the expansion; he has also accused Labor of turning its back on coal workers.

CORPORATES
NEW HOPE CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX NHC, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

China trade tension a risk to economy: BHP mining boss

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Original article by Emmaline Stigwood
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 21-May-21

China’s unofficial ban on coal imports from Australia has forced local producers to find alternative markets for metallurgical coal. BHP Minerals Australia president Edgar Basto notes that this has resulted in the price falling by up to 50 per cent; he says this is unsustainable and action to improve Australia’s relations with China will eventually be needed, given that China is a major market for coal used in steel-making. Basto says that both nations must take action to "rebuild trust".

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP