MINING CORPORATIONS – AUSTRALIA

Kidman wins lithium fight against Marindi Metals

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Original article by Tess Ingram
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 10-Jul-17

The Supreme Court of Western Australia has ruled in favour of Kidman Resources in a legal dispute over the Earl Grey lithium project. Marindi Metals had claimed that it had a binding deal to acquire the project’s lithium rights, which Kidman had disputed. The court found that there was no draft heads of agreement between Kidman and Marindi. Kidman MD Martin Donohue has welcomed the judgment, saying the company can now focus on developing Earl Grey and its other projects.

CORPORATES
KIDMAN RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX KDR, MARINDI METALS LIMITED – ASX MZN, SUPREME COURT OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

BHP chair under pressure to demerge oil assets

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 31 : 7-Jul-17

Paul Gait of Bernstein notes that BHP Billiton has underperformed since it spun off South32, and he says demerging its petroleum division would boost the value of its core mining business. Meanwhile, Paul Young of Deutsche Bank says BHP should revise its strategy under incoming chairman Ken MacKenzie, including putting a limit on capital expenditure and setting productivity targets for its iron ore and coking coal operations. Shares in BHP have shed 1.5 per cent so far in 2017, while Rio Tinto has gained 7.5 per cent.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, BERNSTEIN INVESTMENT RESEARCH AND MANAGEMENT, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, SOUTH32 LIMITED – ASX S32, ELLIOTT MANAGEMENT CORPORATION

BHP could spin off petroleum: analyst

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Original article by James Thomson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 6-Jul-17

Bernstein analyst Paul Gait says BHP Billiton could potentially divest its petroleum and potash assets under incoming chairman Ken MacKenzie. Several institutional investors support a proposal by activist hedge fund Elliott Management for BHP to spin off its US petroleum division. Gait suggests that MacKenzie may be more objective about BHP’s future strategy given his lack of experience in the mining sector.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, BERNSTEIN INVESTMENT RESEARCH AND MANAGEMENT, ELLIOTT MANAGEMENT CORPORATION, TRIBECA GLOBAL NATURAL RESOURCES FUND, ABERDEEN ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED

Fortescue tipped to hit export guidance

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Original article by Tess Ingram
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 : 6-Jul-17

Fortescue Metals Group had forecast that it would export about 170 million tonnes of iron ore in 2016-17. Analysts expect its export volumes to be at the higher of its guidance, although its exports for the June quarter will need to be around 44 million tonnes. BHP Billiton’s iron ore shipments for the year are also expected to be at the higher end of its guidance. Meanwhile, Peter O’Connor of Shaw & Partners expects the iron ore price to retreat to around $US50 per tonne in the second half of 2017.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, SHAW AND PARTNERS LIMITED, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, ROY HILL HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Former uranium market darling calls in administrators

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Original article by Tess Ingram
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 4-Jul-17

Australian-listed Paladin Energy will seek a restructuring or recapitalisation after appointing administrators from KPMG. The move follows Paladin’s failure to secure a deal with Electricite de France to extend the deadline to repay $US200m plus interest of $US77m, which fell due on 10 July. The prepayment related to a long-term uranium supply contract, and the French utility rejected a proposed standstill agreement which would have given the debt-laden Paladin more time to pay.

CORPORATES
PALADIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX PDN, ELECTRICITE DE FRANCE, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, CHINA NATIONAL NUCLEAR CORPORATION

Rio weighs up $3.5bn mines windfall

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Original article by Matt Chambers, Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 22 : 30-Jun-17

Rio Tinto will proceed with the sale of its Hunter Valley coal mines to Yancoal after its Australian shareholders endorsed the $US2.69bn ($3.5bn) deal on 29 June. Shareholders in Rio Tinto’s London-listed entity had approved the sale earlier in the week, and Rio has advised that more than 97 per cent of shareholders overall voted for the deal. Some analysts and investors have suggested that part of the proceeds should be returned to shareholders via a share buyback or an increased dividend, but chairman Jan du Plessis says the miner will consider its options in due course.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, YANCOAL AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX YAL, GLENCORE PLC, SHAW AND PARTNERS LIMITED, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, COAL AND ALLIED INDUSTRIES LIMITED, YANKUANG CORPORATION GROUP LIMITED

Fortescue confident of even more cost cutting

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Original article by Tess Ingram
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 29-Jun-17

Iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group aims to achieve a "C1" unit cost of production of between $US12 and $US13 per tonne in 2016-17, compared with $U50/tonne several years ago. Greg Lilleyman, Fortescue’s director of operations, is confident that the company can further reduce its costs. While he acknowledges that it will be hard to match its recent cost performance in coming years, he says there are still opportunities for more cost savings. Lilleyman also expects the price discount of lower-grade iron compared with the benchmark price to narrow.

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

Flower power: state blocks iron ore projects

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 27 : 29-Jun-17

Minerals Resources remains hopeful that its J5-Bungalbin East iron ore project will be approved by Western Australia’s Environment Minster, Stephen Dawson. The state’s Environmental Protection Authority has recommended that both J5-Bungalbin East and Sinosteel’s Blue Hills project should be blocked, citing their likely impact on rare wildflowers and microscopic subterranean prawns. The Wilderness Society notes that the EPA has ruled against the projects twice in the last two years.

CORPORATES
MINERAL RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX MIN, SINOSTEEL CORPORATION, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AUTHORITY, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF ENVIRONMENT AND CONSERVATION, THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY WA INCORPORATED, THE CHAMBER OF MINERALS AND ENERGY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED

Fortescue conveyor belts to lower costs

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Original article by Tess Ingram
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 : 28-Jun-17

The introduction of self-driving haulage trucks has increased productivity at Fortescue Metals Group’s Solomon mining hub by about 20 per cent since 2012. The pure-pure iron ore miner has 56 autonomous trucks at Solomon, with plans to convert another 12. Fortescue will also begin converting 100 trucks at its Chichester hub in fiscal 2018. It also intends to undertake a trial of relocatable overland conveyor belt technology at the Cloudbreak mine, which could allow its fleet of haulage trucks to be reduced.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, VALE SA, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, SHAW AND PARTNERS LIMITED

BHP puts pedal to metal for South Flank mine plan

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Original article by Tess Ingram
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 31 : 27-Jun-17

BHP Billiton has signalled that it is likely to make a final investment decision on its South Flank iron ore project in Western Australia by mid-2018. BHP has allocated $US184m in initial funding for the project, which is forecast to cost between $US2.4bn and $US3.2bn to develop. South Flank is BHP’s preferred option to replace the Yandi iron ore mine, which produces 80 million tonnes a year but is approaching the end of its mine life.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG