MINING CORPORATIONS – AUSTRALIA

Mine workers drive the great COVID migration

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 20-Apr-20

It is estimated that around 5,000 workers have had to relocate interstate over the past month to overcome coronavirus restrictions on the movement of people between states. More than 900 BHP workers have relocated to Western Australia, while around 800 of Rio Tinto’s fly-in, fly-out workers have relocated indefinitely, and most of them have moved to WA. Trevor Hart, KPMG’s global head of mining, says the current situation presents an opportunity for both the resources sector and the WA government to persuade affected workers to move permanently to the state.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO HOLDINGS LIMITED, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, OZ MINERALS LIMITED – ASX OZL, NEW CENTURY RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX NCZ

Whitehaven puts off Vickery mine decision

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 16 : 17-Apr-20

Whitehaven Coal has advised that its production fell by 15 per cent year-on-year in the March quarter, to 4.1 million tonnes of saleable coal. Whitehaven’s managed coal sales fell 22 per cent to 4.5 million tonnes, and the group now expects its managed coal sales for the full year to be within the range of 17.5-18.5 million tonnes. Whitehaven has also indicated that challenging market conditions means that a final investment decision on its Vickery project will not be made until at least 2021. It had previously expected a decision to be made by the end of June.

CORPORATES
WHITEHAVEN COAL LIMITED – ASX WHC

Stanmore called on to pay out dividend

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 16 : 15-Apr-20

Golden Investments has lifted its stake in Australian-listed Stanmore Coal to 51 per cent since launching a new takeover bid earlier in April. Stanmore has advised shareholders to take no action pending a recommendation from its board; however, Sandon Capital analyst Campbell Morgan expects the bid to succeed and argues that Stanmore should pay a special dividend of $0.28 per share to use its remaining franking credits. Golden Investments previously made a takeover bid for Stanmore in 2019.

CORPORATES
STANMORE COAL LIMITED – ASX SMR, GOLDEN INVESTMENTS (AUSTRALIA) PTE LTD, SANDON CAPITAL PTY LTD

Records to fall as miners defy crisis

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Original article by Dennis Shanahan, Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 13-Apr-20

Factors such as a resilient iron ore price and a rally in the price of gold have prompted expectations that the value of Australia’s resources exports will top $$299bn in 2019-20. This is $18bn higher than was forecast in December. The nation has exported $65.4bn worth of iron ore since 1 July, including $13.9bn in the first two months of 2020. Iron ore for delivery to China is trading at almost $US80 per tonne, compared with the Treasury’s forecast of $US55 a tonne. The resources and energy sector is largely continuing to operate during the pandemic.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Rio Tinto to maintain payout

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 9-Apr-20

Rio Tinto chairman Simon Thompson say its dividend policy will have to be reviewed before the release of its half-year results in July. However, shareholders will still receive the final dividend of $US2.31 per share for calendar 2019, as announced in February. Thompson has cited factors such as Rio Tinto’s strong balance sheet and the fact that its iron ore order book is full. Many listed companies have opted to review their dividend policies or defer interim dividends due to the coronavirus pandemic.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Iron ore dividends still on track

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 18 : 8-Apr-20

Macquarie Group is bullish about the outlook for iron ore producers BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals Group, arguing that continued strong cashflows should enable them to maintain dividend yields. Macquarie notes that BHP’s iron ore operations will have helped to offset the impact of the sharp fall in the crude oil price on its petroleum division. Glynn Lawcock of UBS also expects BHP and Rio Tinto to maintain their dividend payments, although he says gold and base metal miners may reduce their dividends.

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

Rio Tinto says China shows growing iron ore appetite

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 22 : 8-Apr-20

The head of Rio Tinto’s iron ore division, Chris Salisbury, notes that Chinese demand for the steel input remained strong while the nation was contending with the coronavirus earlier in 2020. He adds that China’s steel stockpiles have started to fall and Rio Tinto’s order books are full. Chinese steel mills buy more than 70 per cent of Rio Tinto’s iron ore, and China accounted for 51.3 per cent of the resources group’s revenue in 2019. Australia’s iron ore exports are forecast to top $101bn in 2019-20.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Rio Tinto flies in 700 miners to beat lockdown

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 16 : 7-Apr-20

Rio Tinto has advised that about 700 of the fly-in, fly-out workers at its Pilbara iron ore mines will temporarily relocate to Western Australia following the state’s decision to close its borders. Rio Tinto workers will be required to remain on site for 14 days in compliance with the state’s quarantine rules, as well as coronavirus lockdown rules when they are not working. BHP has also relocated about 300 FIFO workers to WA during the pandemic.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG

BHP raises spectre of virus compo

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 7-Apr-20

BHP has conceded that it could face workers’ compensation claims from employees who contract the coronavirus while on the job. Workcover Western Australia has indicated that such claims would be possible, although it notes the difficulty of determining when a person contracted the virus. Its observations have been echoed by Queensland’s WorkCover agency. Hall & Wilcox lawyer Terry Killian says employees would likely have to prove that there was a link between their work duties and contracting the virus.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, WORKCOVER WESTERN AUSTRALIA, HALL AND WILCOX, WORKCOVER QUEENSLAND

Future of FIFO mines is residential, says Pitt

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 6-Apr-20

More than 50,000 workers in Australia’s resources industry are employed on a fly-in, fly-out basis. However, federal Resources Minister Keith Pitt expects the sector to be much less reliant on FIFO workers once the coronavirus crisis is over. He says they are likely to focus more on using workers who live in close proximity to resources projects. However, he concedes that FIFO workers will still be needed for projects in remote areas. Restrictions on crossing state borders have prompted some mining companies to significantly to increase the shifts of their FIFO workers.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, SCIENCE, ENERGY AND RESOURCES, QUEENSLAND RESOURCES COUNCIL LIMITED