MINING CORPORATIONS – AUSTRALIA

Rio weighs up another lithium play

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian – Page: 16 : 11-Dec-24

Rio Tinto’s board is expected to approve a proposal to increase the annual production capacity of its Rincon lithium project in Argentina to 60,000 tonnes. Rio Tinto recently advised of the first production from a pilot plant at Rincon, more than two years after it acquired the project for $US825m. Barrenjoey is of the view that Rio Tinto may direct some of its $US800m worth of unallocated capital expenditure to the Rincon project. Rio Tinto is also seeking to acquire Arcadium Lithium, with the target’s shareholders set to vote on the $US6.7bn deal on 23 December.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, ARCADIUM LITHIUM PLC – ASX LTM, BARRENJOEY CAPITAL PARTNERS PTY LTD

Rio Tinto says carbon pricing justifies emissions cuts

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 10-Dec-24

Rio Tinto’s decarbonisation general manager Stefan Kwiatkowski estimates that almost half of the mining corporation’s greenhouse gas emissions are covered by "legislative carbon penalty schemes", which include Australia’s safeguard mechanism policy. It estimates that its annual carbon compliance costs as a result of these schemes would be $US300 million per year by 2030 if it did not act to reduce emissions, rising to $US600 million per year by 2040. Rio has committed to halving its emissions by spending up to $US6 billion in the nine years to 2030, while it anticipates many of its decarbonisation projects will generate returns of between 12 per cent and 15 per cent.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Northern Star in De Grey takeover

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Original article by Brad Thompson, Valerina Changarathil
The Australian – Page: 13 & 19 : 3-Dec-24

Northern Star Resources will acquire smaller gold producer De Grey Mining via a scheme of arrangement. The all-scrip $5bn deal has been unanimously backed by De Grey’s directors, and is subject to shareholder and court approval. Northern Star’s offer comprises 0.119 of its shares for each De Grey share; the latter’s assets include the undeveloped Hemi project in Western Australia, which is slated to produce 530,000 ounces of gold a year during the first decade of operation. Northern Star CEO Stuart Tonkin says he is not concerned about acquiring Hemi without final federal and state environmental approvals in place.

CORPORATES
NORTHERN STAR RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX NST, DE GREY MINING LIMITED – ASX DEG

Red flags: Canberra warning to China on rare earths project

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 3-Dec-24

Rare earths producer Northern Minerals is continuing to attract scrutiny from the federal government regarding its links to Chinese investors. A spokesman for the Treasury has advised that it assesessing compliance with an order requiring five China-linked entities to divest shares in the company. The spokesman said the government will take further action if required to protect the national interest. Singapore-registered Yuxiao Fund is one of the entities that was required to divest shares; however, Northern Minerals has not been able to contact one of the Hong Kong-registered ­companies that acquired the shares.

CORPORATES
NORTHERN MINERALS LIMITED – ASX NTU, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, YUXIAO FUND

Global Lithium AGM delayed to probe Chinese conspiracy

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Original article by Mark Wembridge
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 20-Nov-24

The Supreme Court of Western Australia has approved Global Lithium Resources’ application to postpone its annual general meeting until 14 February. The AGM was scheduled to be held in Perth today, but the company had sought a delay in order to give the Foreign Investment Review Board more time to investigate allegations regarding Chinese-born minority shareholder Liaoliang Zhu. It has been claimed that Zhu is using his push to gain a seat on Global Lithium’s board to gain "effective control" of the company’s Manna lithium project in WA.

CORPORATES
GLOBAL LITHIUM RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX GL1, SUPREME COURT OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD

MinRes admits it failed to disclose related-party transactions

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Original article by Mark Wembridge
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 13-Nov-24

Iron ore and lithium producer Mineral Resources has conceded that transactions involving a British Virgin Islands-registered company should have been disclosed to investors at least two years ago. MinRes has acknowledged that the deals with Far East Equipment Holdings were related-party transactions and therefore should have been disclosed before June 2022. The deal for Far East to sell mining equipment to MinRes at inflated prices was part of a tax evasion scheme that has embroiled MD Chris Ellison. The contracts with Far East were made prior to MinRes listing on the sharemarket in 2006.

CORPORATES
MINERAL RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX MIN, FAR EAST EQUIPMENT HOLDINGS

Ellison’s delayed exit will harm undervalued MinRes share price

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Original article by Mark Wembridge, Tom Rabe, Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 17 : 6-Nov-24

Sources close to Mineral Resources have suggested that MD Chris Ellison may continue to be either directly or indirectly involved with the company after he steps down within the next 18 months. Bradley Watson from Bell Potter notes that Ellison is the largest shareholder in MinRes, and there could be speculation about the future of his stake in the company when he leaves. Other market observers believe that the relatively long leadership transition could weigh on the company’s share price.

CORPORATES
MINERAL RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX MIN, BELL POTTER SECURITIES LIMITED

Fortescue execs face bonus backlash

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian – Page: 16 : 6-Nov-24

Fortescue shareholders will be given a vote on a proposal to grant performance rights to mining division CEO Dino Otranto and clean energy arm CEO Mark Hutchinson. However, Fortescue notes that granting performance rights does not require shareholder approval under the Corporations Act or ASX listing rules; the company has indicated that it will issue the performance rights even if investors vote against the resolution at its AGM on Wednesday. Three large US pension funds will oppose the resolution, with SBA Florida contending that there has been insufficient disclosure of performance targets.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE LIMITED – ASX FMG, SBA FLORIDA

MinRes aware of claims for two years

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Original article by Elouise Fowler, Mark Wembridge, Alex Gluyas
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 30-Oct-24

Mineral Resources has advised that it had hired external lawyers in June 2022 to investigate the tax evasion allegations against MD Chris Ellison. The company also disclosed that it received more detailed allegations regarding Ellison in June and November 2023; the board also discussed the issue in June 2024. However, MinRes has stated that it did not inform shareholders of the investigation because it did not think it would have a material effect on the company’s share price. MinRes has emphasised that the sales contracts in question were struck prior to its IPO in 2006, and were made by entities that became part of MinRes when the company listed on the sharemarket.

CORPORATES
MINERAL RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX MIN

$70bn class action case against BHP opens in London

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Original article by Hans van Leeuwen
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 23-Oct-24

Britain’s High Court has commenced hearing a massive class action lawsuit against BHP over the Samarco iron ore tailings dam collapse in 2015. Law firm Pogust Goodhead is representing about 62,000 Brazilians in the class action. BHP and Vale jointly owned Samarco, which operated the Germano iron ore mine; a key issue that will be addressed during the first days of the hearing is whether Samarco was an independent and autonomous company, or whether BHP was effectively in control of the iron ore project and is therefore responsible for the tragedy that resulted in 19 deaths and an environmental disaster.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, VALE SA, SAMARCO MINERACAO SA, POGUST GOODHEAD, HIGH COURT OF ENGLAND AND WALES