Australia/New Caledonia/Papua New Guinea Mining – Page 24

Sky-High Coal Prices Won’t Spur New Mines in a Greener World – by Dan Murtaugh, Will Wade, and Eko Listiyorini (Bloomberg News – June 9, 2021)

June 10, 2021

https://www.bloomberg.com/

The highest coal prices in years aren’t enough to spur investment in new mines in the face of heightened efforts by governments and financial institutions to get the world to abandon the dirtiest fossil fuel.

Prices are surging from China to Europe as demand for coal rebounds from a virus-induced hit, and temporary mine outages curtail supply. Yet companies remain hesitant to invest in new projects with financing difficult to come by and question marks over long-term demand.

That’s a boon for miners’ bottom lines but goes against the grain of the typical commodity cycle, where high prices are a signal to increase production and eventually bring the market back into balance. The disruption to normal dynamics underscores how broader environmental goals are changing investment patterns for fossil fuels.

Deep in Queensland’s coal country, one community is grappling with what the future holds – by Jess Davis (Australian Broadcasting Corporation – June 7, 2021)

June 8, 2021

https://www.abc.net.au/

As you drive south-west from Mackay towards the small inland community of Clermont, you pass through stunning burnt-orange sorghum crops and past rock formations bursting from the ground before entering deep into coal country.

Convoys delivering giant machinery that takes up both lanes slow the trip down. The machinery is heading towards the open-cut mines that are the lifeblood of these communities. And seemingly never-ending trains rattle on the tracks that skirt the road, carrying the precious black cargo to the port and out to sea.

Some stereotypes hold true; the roads are full of men and women in high-vis orange shirts driving white utes. For the past 35 years, Rhonda Bleakley and her husband have been keeping those utes going from the helm of a petrol station and fuel distributorship in Clermont.

Inside the battle to own a prized nickel deposit in Ontario’s remote Ring of Fire – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – June 8, 2021)

June 8, 2021

https://financialpost.com/

Wyloo Metals, backed by an Australian iron ore magnate with deep pockets, is looking to buy Noront Resources for its prospective nickel as a carbon transition play

As the world stumbles towards a decarbonized future, moving sideways and planting false steps at times, Luca Giacovazzi says he knows one thing: The transition is good for Northern Ontario’s nickel.

In a story that is still unfolding, in late May, Luca Giacovazzi, head of Australia-based Wyloo Metals Pty Ltd, announced he was prepared to invest roughly $133 million to buy Noront Resources Inc. — the Toronto company that’s spent years trying to develop a new mining district near the James Bay Lowlands of northern Ontario, called the Ring of Fire.

Cut off from all-season roads connecting to the rest of the province, the Ring of Fire has always faced long odds of becoming a mining area.

COLUMN-Asia coal prices surge, but China-Australia dispute means rally is uneven – by Clyde Russell (Nasdaq.com/Reuters – June 7, 2021)

June 8, 2021

https://www.nasdaq.com/

LAUNCESTON, Australia, June 8 (Reuters) – Thermal coal prices across Asia have surged to multi-year highs amid strong demand and some supply constraints, but some types of the fuel have done better than others.

The headline-grabbing rally has been for high-quality Australian thermal coal. The weekly index for 6,000 kilocalorie per kilogramme (kcal/kg) coal at Newcastle Port ARGMCCINDX=ARG, as assessed by commodity price reporting agency Argus, hit $121.40 a tonne in the seven days to June 4.

This was the highest in more than a decade. This grade has now climbed 49% since the end of last year, and 162% from its 2020 low of $46.37 a tonne in September, reached amid the economic fallout from coronavirus lockdowns across Asia.

Wyloo Metals would put proposed Sault ferrochrome plant under the microscope, if successful in bid for Noront Resources – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – June 7, 2021)

June 7, 2021

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/ Australian mining investor focused on mining, processing nickel for Ontario’s electrical vehicle manufacturers The prospective Australian buyer for Noront Resources won’t make any immediate shifts in strategy in the Far North mineral exploration camp should it acquire the Toronto junior mining company. But it will reassess the location of a proposed ferrochrome processing plant …

Tesla chair says mining to underpin potential Australian battery, EV production – by Anthony Barich (SP Global – June 3, 2021)

June 4, 2021

https://www.spglobal.com/

Tesla Inc. wants to support Australian miners critical to facilitating the country’s involvement throughout the electric vehicle supply chain, including possible EV manufacturing.

Tesla Chairman Robyn Denholm voiced support for the country’s mining sector at a June 2 Minerals Council of Australia event in Canberra, the nation’s capital. Denholm is an Australian who was appointed chair of the Tesla board in November 2018, after joining in 2014.

Denholm said the carmaker expects to increase spending on Australian minerals to more than $1 billion per annum “in the next few years.”

Tesla eyes over $1 billion of Australian minerals a year – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – June 2, 2021)

June 2, 2021

https://www.mining.com/

Electric cars giant Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) said it expects to soon begin buying more than $1 billion a year of Australian lithium, nickel and other critical minerals for its batteries and engines.

Chairman Robyn Denholm said the country has taken important steps towards cleaning its image of polluting commodities exporter and it is poised to become a globally significant supplier of climate change solutions.

“Australia has the minerals to power the renewable energy age throughout the world in the coming years,” Denholm, an Australian, said in a speech during a Minerals Council of Australia event.

Noront suitor Wyloo Metals looks to spend $25 million to study viability of Ontario battery metals plant – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – May 31, 2021)

May 31, 2021

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Australian private equity firm Wyloo Metals Pty Ltd. says it intends to spend $25 million to study the viability of building a battery metals processing plant in Ontario, if it succeeds in its attempt to buy Ring of Fire operator Noront Resources Ltd.

Last week, Wyloo Metals, a subsidiary of Perth-based investment holding company Tattarang, said it was prepared to buy Toronto based Noront for $133-million in cash, or roughly a 31 per cent premium to its market value.

Toronto-based Noront has not responded directly to Wyloo Metal’s proposal yet, but it has moved to put a “poison pill” in place, that would temporarily prevent Wyloo from taking the company over.

NEWS RELEASE: Wyloo Metals commits to world-class Future Metals Hub in Ontario (May 31, 2021)

May 31, 2021

PERTH, Australia, May 31, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — As part of its long-term investment strategy in the Ring of Fire, Wyloo Metals Pty Ltd (“Wyloo Metals”) is committed to developing a sustainable and world-class Future Metals Hub in Ontario that will create new industry and employment opportunities across the region.

The proposed Future Metals Hub will be developed in consultation with regional stakeholders and First Nations communities to create battery material supply chain capabilities that maximize and retain the value generated from resource development within Ontario.

This announcement follows Wyloo Metals’ statement on Tuesday, May 25, 2021 regarding its intention to make an offer to acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Noront Resources Ltd. (TSXV:NOT) (“Noront”) that it does not currently own.

Iron ore tycoon pleads with west to mend its relationship with China – by Jamie Smyth (Financial Times – March 24, 2021)

May 26, 2021

https://www.ft.com/

Australia’s richest man has implored politicians to reject Trumpian populism and rebuild the west’s fractured relationship with China to avoid damaging the global economy and environment.

Andrew Forrest, founder of Fortescue, the world’s fourth biggest iron ore miner, accused populist politicians of dividing people, ripping nations apart and destroying humanity’s ability to leave the world in a better place than they found it.

If asked by the Australian government, he would play a role in helping to heal the worst breakdown in diplomatic relations between Beijing and Canberra in generations, he told the Financial Times in an interview.

Australians look to go all-in on the Ring of Fire – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – May 25, 2021)

May 25, 2021

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Wyloo Metals makes take-over bid for Noront Resources

Noront Resources largest shareholder, Australia’s Wyloo Metals, intends to make a bid to acquire the Ring of Fire mine developer.

Perth, Australia-headquartered Wyloo Metals announced May 25 that it intends to make an offer to acquire all of the outstanding common shares in Noront that it does not currently own in a proposed $133-million deal.

Privately-held Wyloo made its initial buy-in last December, through a subsidiary company, Wyloo Canada Holdings, taking a 23 per cent stake of Noront’s common shares.

Wyloo is owned by Australian mining and green energy billionaire Andrew Forrest and his privately-held investment company Tattarang. Wyloo succeeded Resources Capital Fund as Noront’s biggest shareholder.

Forrest in $142m takeover bid for Canadian nickel player – by Brad Thompson (Australian Financial Review – May 26, 2021)

May 25, 2021

https://www.afr.com/

Andrew Forrest has launched a takeover bid that will give him control of a high-grade nickel project in Canada as he looks to establish himself in the region and become a major force in battery metals independent of his multi-billion dollar iron ore interests.

The takeover bid, made through the Forrest family’s private investment arm Tattarang, values Noront Resources at $C133 million ($142.3 million) and comes six months after Dr Forrest grabbed control of a nearly 37 per cent stake in Noront through a deal with Resource Capital Fund.

Toronto Stock Exchange-listed Noront’s assets include Canada’s highest grade nickel discovery since Vale-owned Voisey’s Bay. The Forrest camp has signalled it is willing to bankroll development of the discovery along with other projects in a region known as the Ring of Fire.

The story of Rum Jungle: a Cold War-era uranium mine that’s spewed acid into the environment for decades – by Gavin Mudd (The Conversation – May 18, 2021)

May 18, 2021

https://theconversation.com/

Gavin Mudd is the Associate Professor of Environmental Engineering, RMIT University.

Buried in last week’s budget was money for rehabilitating the Rum Jungle uranium mine near Darwin. The exact sum was not disclosed.

Rum Jungle used to be a household name. It was Australia’s first large-scale uranium mine and supplied the US and British nuclear weapons programs during the Cold War.

Today, the mine is better known for extensively polluting the Finniss River after it closed in 1971. Despite a major rehabilitation project by the Commonwealth in the 1980s, the damage to the local environment is ongoing.

Australian Government commits $20m to resources strategy (Australian Mining – May 10, 2021)

May 12, 2021

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The Australian Government has unveiled a $20 million Global Resources Strategy to expand the reach and reputation of the country’s resources industry.

Federal Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia Keith Pitt said the strategy would assist Australia’s resource sector in supplying to new global markets during the world’s recovery from COVID-19.

“Australia’s resources sector more than lived up to its reputation as a dependable, resilient and efficient supplier of major commodities to the world throughout the COVID-19 pandemic,” Pitt said.

Reformed iron ore miners tipped to pay $65b dividend – by Peter Ker (Australian Financial Review – May 12, 2021)

May 11, 2021

https://www.afr.com/

Rio Tinto and BHP are tipped to pass 95 per cent of the iron ore boom back to shareholders through dividends, as Anglo American and Hong Kong’s Cheung Kong became the lastest multinationals to flirt with the idea of building a new iron ore province in Australia’s mid-west.

Iron ore prices have surged 20 per cent above the 2011 record over the past fortnight and are dragging Australia’s biggest exporter, Rio, into a net cash position just 13 years after it was crippled with debt on the back of the disastrous $US38 billion Alcan acquisition.

Shareholder returns from Rio, BHP and Fortescue will be far more generous than in 2011, when the three miners had big plans to spend on growth and were carrying much bigger debt loads.