MINING LEASES – AUSTRALIA

Big miners pay $40 billion in tax, royalties

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 12-May-20

Deloitte Access Economics has concluded that Australian mining companies paid a combined $39.3bn in taxes and royalties during 2018-19, which is about $8bn higher than previously. The estimate is based on data from the Australian Taxation Office and other sources. Deloitte also estimates that the mining sector has paid about $230 billion in taxes and royalties over the last 11 financial years. The report was produced on behalf of the Minerals Council of Australia.

CORPORATES
DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE

Browse project delays trigger lease warning

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Original article by Perry Williams
The Australian – Page: 20 : 19-Jul-19

The retention lease for the Browse gas field expires in mid-2020, but Woodside Petroleum does not expect to make a final investment decision on the project until the end of that year. Resources Minister Matt Canavan has held meetings with executives from Woodside and Browse partner Shell, and he is said to have sought an update on progress regarding the project. Canavan and the National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator have previously flagged the potential for the Browse partners to forfeit their leases under ‘use it or lose it’ provisions.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, AUSTRALIA. NATIONAL OFFSHORE PETROLEUM TITLES ADMINISTRATOR, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS

Gas pressure rising for Woodside

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 17 & 20 : 10-Jul-19

Saul Kavonic of Credit Suisse says the National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator recently warned the Browse LNG partners that they could potentially forfeit their leases under ‘use it or lose it’ provisions. Resources Minister Matt Canavan has also issued a similar warning to Woodside Petroleum and its partners, whose retention leases must be renewed in mid-2020. Kavonic suggests that NOPTA could potentially subject the Browse partners to certain conditions if the leases are renewed, or seek to exclude certain partners that have been reticent about making a final investment decision.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC, BP PLC, JAPAN AUSTRALIA LNG PTY LTD, PETROCHINA COMPANY LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. NATIONAL OFFSHORE PETROLEUM TITLES ADMINISTRATOR, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED

WA digs deeper on BHP royalties

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Original article by Ben Butler
The Australian – Page: 15 & 16 : 22-Jan-19

Western Australia’s Treasurer Ben Wyatt says the state government will pursue BHP for backdated iron ore royalties totalling between $200m and $300m. He claims that an audit undertaken in 2016 had revealed that the resources group had underpaid royalties since the early 2000s. BHP had reached a $529m settlement with the Australian Taxation Office regarding its Singapore marketing hub in November 2018.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF TREASURY AND FINANCE, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, SUPREME COURT OF QUEENSLAND

Miners fear tax grab by Labor government

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 1-Nov-18

Gold Fields CEO Nick Holland has warned that the South Africa-based miner may reconsider future investment in Australia if a change of federal government results in an increase in the sector’s royalties and taxes. Gold Fields has a 50 per cent stake in the Gruyere gold project in Western Australia, while its other local assets include the St Ives, Granny Smith and Darlot gold mines. Meanwhile, Fortescue Metals Group CEO says mining companies need policy certainty to continue investing in Australia rather than offshore.

CORPORATES
GOLD FIELDS LIMITED, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, GOLD ROAD RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX GOR

Adani says Australia to get taxes despite haven

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 25 : 2-Nov-17

Adani executive Muthuraj Guruswamy has confirmed that its companies that are registered in Australia are controlled by entities that are based in tax havens. However, he has stressed that Adani will pay its full tax liabilities and mining royalties in Australia. Guruswamy also indicated that Adani has started building the infrastructure for its Carmichael coal mine, which is slated to commence production in 2020. Anti-coal protestors attempted to disrupt his speech at the International Mining and Resources Conference on 1 November.

CORPORATES
ADANI MINING PTY LTD, NORTHERN AUSTRALIA INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITY

BHP, Rio face fresh tax threat

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Original article by Tess Ingram, Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 10 : 29-May-17

The Western Australian Government may seek to have BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto pay their iron ore production levies upfront for a number of years, as part of its strategy to address the state’s rising debt and Budget deficit. Premier Mark McGowan says buying out the lease rental fee of $A0.25 per tonne is one of the options under consideration. Peter Strachan of StockAnalysis questions whether BHP and Rio Tinto would agree to such a deal, given the difficulty of forecasting their annual production rates over the long-term.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF TREASURY AND FINANCE, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, STOCK ANALYSIS AUSTRALASIA PTY LTD, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, ROY HILL HOLDINGS PTY LTD, THE CHAMBER OF MINERALS AND ENERGY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Fortescue backs offshore competition on gas reservation

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 20-May-16

Fortescue Metals Group believes that changes to Australia’s lease retention system for oil and gas fields should be a higher priority than the Australian Labor Party’s proposed national interest test for LNG export projects. Fortescue, as a major user of gas, argues that scrapping the so-called "use it or lose it" system would be more effective in increasing the supply of gas for domestic customers. The lease retention system has come under scrutiny in the wake of Woodside Petroleum’s decision to put the Browse LNG project on hold.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, APACHE CORPORATION, QUADRANT ENERGY PTY LTD, HESS CORPORATION, MURPHY OIL CORPORATION, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT, EXXON CHEMICAL COMPANY

Silver lining in mineral hunt cloud

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Original article by Tess Ingram
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 1-Sep-15

The national spend on exploration fell 33 per cent year on year to $A322 million in the June 2015 quarter, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. It fell to its lowest level in nine years as miners cut back on costs and expenditure in the face of declining commodities prices. But it was not all bad news. The number of metres drilled was down only nine per cent, suggesting the industry was getting more for its money as costs were slashed in the search for the next generation of mines.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, MINEX CONSULTING PTY LTD, ASSOCIATION OF MINING AND EXPLORATION COMPANIES

Farmers may profit from gas

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Original article by Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1-Jun : 25-Jun-14

Australian Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane has argued that the current friction between farmers and the gas sector especially in New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria could be addressed by giving the former a share of the royalties. While this would overturn the long-held legal position that rural landholders do not own the resources below the ground, an access and royalty sharing regime has already been negotiated in Queensland. Santos and AGL Energy have also struck similar deals in NSW, but have upset their rivals with the move. Federal Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce backs the push as well. Meanwhile Macfarlane says there will be no domestic gas reservation policy

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF AGRICULTURE, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGK, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, COMMITTEE FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF AUSTRALIA, TRANSFIELD SERVICES LIMITED – ASX TSE, AUSTRALIAN PETROLEUM PRODUCTION AND EXPLORATION ASSOCIATION LIMITED