MINING CORPORATIONS – AUSTRALIA

Miners to bear the brunt of China woes

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 25 : 29-Jan-20

The coronavirus crisis has weighed on the shares of Australian resources groups that have exposure to China. Shares in Rio Tinto have closed below $100 for the first time since mid-December, while BHP, Fortescue Metals Group, OZ Minerals and Sandfire Resources also retreated on 28 January. The prices of iron ore and base metals have also fallen in response to the coronavirus outbreak. Macquarie notes that based on the SARS pandemic, base metal prices may take 3-5 months to recover from their recent losses.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, OZ MINERALS LIMITED – ASX OZL, SANDFIRE RESOURCES NL – ASX SFR, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG

BHP facing fresh coal safety probe over 2018 fatality

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 29-Jan-20

Queensland’s Department of Natural Resources, Mines & Energy has filed criminal charges against BHP and Mitsubishi over the death of a worker at the Saraji coal mine in December 2018. The case, which will be heard by the industrial magistrates’ court, will allege that safety breaches may have contributed to the man’s death when his bulldozer fell into a pool of water. The Department has confirmed that it is investigating a similar incident at the Peak Downs mine in mid-2018, in which a dozer driver escaped serious injury.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, MITSUBISHI CORPORATION, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF NATURAL RESOURCES, MINES AND ENERGY

Rio mining big data, AI to bleed desperate suppliers

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Original article by Jared Lynch, Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 15 & 18 : 28-Jan-20

Rio Tinto has stressed that it is committed to 30-day payment terms for its suppliers, following reports that it is offering to pay invoices before the due date in exchange for a discount of up to two per cent. The so-called ‘dynamic discounting’ scheme is generating significant cost savings for Rio Tinto, but it has attracted criticism from Small Business Ombudsman Kate Carnell and Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan. Rio Tinto is also said to be using big data and artificial intelligence technology to determine how much of a discount a supplier is prepared to accept.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE AUSTRALIAN SMALL BUSINESS AND FAMILY ENTERPRISE OMBUDSMAN, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET

It’s not just Forrest making a killing from Fortescue

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Original article by Julie-anne Sprague, Robert Guy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 16 : 23-Jan-20

Fortescue Metals Group’s share price rose to a new record high of $12.69 on 22 January, extending the stock’s gain in the year-to-date to 18.7 per cent. The rally has seen the stake of founder and chairman Andrew Forrest rise to around $13.9bn; when his other investments are taken into account, Forrest’s estimated wealth is now about $15.9bn. Other Fortescue executives with an equity interest in the pure-play iron ore miner have also benefited from the stock’s rise, including CEO Elizabeth Gaines and deputy CEO Julie Shuttleworth.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG

Henry sharpens BHP’s iron will

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 15 & 20 : 22-Jan-20

BHP still expects its 2019-20 iron ore production in the Pilbara to be within the range of 273 to 286 million tonnes, after reporting output of 137 million tonnes for the first half. This suggests that production in the second half could be up to 149 million tonnes. BHP received an average of $US78.30 per tonne for iron ore in the first half, which is 41 per cent higher than previously. Meanwhile, BHP has advised that production at its Mount Arthur coal mine in New South Wales was affected by the drought and bushfires during the first half.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP

Share surge elevates Forrest to $13bn man

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Original article by John Stensholt
The Australian – Page: 15 & 16 : 21-Jan-20

Shares in pure-play iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group have gained more than 10 per cent so far in 2020, reaching a new intra-day high of $11.92 on 20 January. The rally has lifted Fortescue’s market capitalisation to more than $36bn, and it now ranks as Australia’s 13th largest company in terms of market cap. The stake of founder Andrew Forrest is now worth about $13bn, while his net wealth has increased by about $1bn since the start of the year and $7bn since March.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG

Maxsted hastens BHP exit in retreat from blue chip boards

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 19 : 15-Jan-20

BHP director Lindsay Maxsted will step down later in 2020, after nine years on the board. He was re-elected at BHP’s annual meeting in late 2019, and gave no indication that he intended to retire. Maxsted has declined to comment on the reasons for his impending exit from the board; however, a major BHP shareholder has indicated that they had expected Maxsted to step down in the next year or so given the money-laundering scandal at Westpac, where he has also stepped down. BHP says the timing of Maxsted’s departure is linked to tenure guidelines which suggest that directors should not serve for more than nine years.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC

Union pushes to overturn BHP’s Fair Work win on enterprise deals

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 9-Jan-20

The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union is appealing the Fair Work Commission’s decision to approve two enterprise agreements covering employees of BHP’s Operations Services division. The bulk of these workers are employed at BHP’s coal mines in Queensland’s Bowen Basin, and the CFMEU contends that they should be covered by the enterprise agreement for the miner’s other workers in the basin. The CFMEU argues that these workers earn up to $40,000 a year more than the Operations Services employees.

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

Desert wildflower halts lithium mine project

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Original article by
The Australian – Page: 18 : 8-Jan-20

The US subsidiary of Australian-listed Ioneer Limited has agreed to suspend exploration work at a lithium project on federal land in Nevada. This follows concerns that mining would pose a threat to a rare species of desert wildflower called Tiehm’s buckwheat, which is found only in Nevada’s Silver Peak Range. The Center for Biological Diversity had launched legal action against the Trump administration in a bid to stop further exploration at Ioneer’s tenements in order to protect the wildflower. The lawsuit was withdrawn after Ioneer USA agreed to put exploration on hold.

CORPORATES
IONEER LIMITED – ASX INR, CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

Glencore considered Fortescue takeover in 2016, but Forrest wasn’t keen

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Original article by Perry Williams
The Australian – Page: 13 & 15 : 6-Jan-20

Sources have indicated that Anglo-Swiss mining giant Glencore held internal talks regarding a potential bid for Fortescue Metals Group in 2016. It is believed that Glencore looked at a possible approach to Fortescue in order to diversify into iron ore and to capitalise on a sharp fall in the price of the steel input at the time. Glencore has declined to comment, while Fortescue CEO Elizabeth Gaines says the company is focused on growing its business. Glencore had previously sought to expand into iron ore in 2014, via a $190bn merger proposal with Rio Tinto.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, GLENCORE PLC, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, COAL AND ALLIED INDUSTRIES LIMITED