Australia/New Caledonia/Papua New Guinea Mining – Page 28

Asia Today: Court upholds state border closings in Australia (Lethbridge News Now – November 5, 2020)

November 6, 2020

CANBERRA, Australia — Australia’s highest court on Friday upheld a state’s border closure and dismissed billionaire businessman Clive Palmer’s argument that the pandemic measure was unconstitutional.

The seven High Court judges ruled that Western Australia’s state border closure to non-essential travel applied during “a hazard in the nature of a plague or epidemic” complied with the constitution.

All Australian states and territories have used border restrictions to curb infections and a court ruling against Western Australia could have impacted their pandemic responses.

Estrella confirms massive nickel sulphides – Matt Birney (The West Australian – November 4, 2020)

November 5, 2020

https://thewest.com.au/

Estrella Resources looks to have hit paydirt at the T5 nickel discovery near Carr Boyd Rocks in WA posting an assay intercept of 2.5m at an eye-catching 3.66 per cent nickel.

This strike confirms the presence of high-grade nickel at the prospect and clears the way for an extended program across the emerging discovery. The company has already identified substantial electromagnetic targets in close proximity to this pivotal drill hole and is set to kick off follow up drilling in the coming days.

Diamond drill hole CBDD030, the star of the show at T5 to date, was designed to test a deep geophysical target within the prospect. The drill hole successfully intersected 15m of sulphide mineralisation at more than 400 metres below surface, as per its design.

Australia accepts human rights complaint against Rio Tinto over Bougainville – by Staff (Mining.com – November 4, 2020)

November 4, 2020

https://www.mining.com/

Australia’s Human Rights Law Centre (HRLC) issued a statement saying that the residents of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea have welcomed this week’s decision by the Australian government to accept a human rights complaint against mining giant Rio Tinto (ASX, LON, NYSE: RIO) for investigation and conciliation.

The complaint, which was filed by the HRLC on behalf of 156 Bougainville residents, alleges environmental and human rights violations caused by Rio Tinto’s former Panguna mine on the island.

The operation was run by Rio Tinto subsidiary Bougainville Copper (BCL) and was abandoned in the 1990s due to a civil war that was largely fought over how mine profits should be shared. Some 25 years later, in 2016, Rio handed its shareholding to national and local governments.

Gina Rinehart’s wealth soars as Hancock Prospecting reports $4b profit – by Nick Toscano (Brisbane Times – November 4, 2020)

November 4, 2020

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/

Australia’s richest person Gina Rinehart has added to her wealth after her mining company Hancock Prospecting reported a 50 per cent surge in profit on the back of soaring prices for iron ore.

Days after Mrs Rinehart topped The Australian Financial Review’s 2020 Rich List with an estimated $29 billion fortune, financial accounts reveal her private company’s after-tax profit rose from $2.6 billion to $4 billion in the past financial year.

While many of Australia’s top export commodities such as coal and liquefied natural gas have faced sharp falls due to various impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, iron ore has soared and remains above $US110 a tonne, providing a windfall to mining giants such as Fortescue, BHP, Rio Tinto and Hancock Prospecting’s majority-owned Roy Hill.

BHP takes copper pledge – by Esmaire Iannucci (MiningWeekly.com – November 2, 2020)

November 2, 2020

https://www.miningweekly.com/

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Major BHP has committed its copper operations in Chile and Australia to the Copper Mark voluntary programme, designed to hold the copper industry accountable to responsible practices in critical areas including environment, community, human rights and governance issues.

The Copper Mark is a credible assurance framework to demonstrate the copper industry’s responsible production practices and contribution to the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals.

“We know that our long-term sustainability credentials are important to our customers and increasingly important to end consumers of copper products, such as buyers of electric vehicles and copper intensive consumer durables,” says BHP group sales and marketing officer Michiel Hovers.

Thermal coal demand in Asia to rise – report – by Esmarie Iannucci (MiningWeekly.com – October 28, 2020)

October 29, 2020

https://www.miningweekly.com/

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – New research conducted on behalf of the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) has noted that the demand for thermal coal imports in the Asia Pacific region will grow by more than 270-million tonnes to 2030, to reach 1.1-billion tonnes a year.

The report by Commodity Insight, noted that there were several fundamental factors driving this growth in demand, including high electricity demand, high population growth, significant coal-fired generation capacity, and the inability of domestic coal production to keep pace with demand growth.

$14 trillion investor coalition puts Australia’s miners on notice over Indigenous rights – by Nick Toscano (Sydney Morning Herald – October 29, 2020)

October 29, 2020

https://www.smh.com.au/

A coalition of global investors managing a collective $14 trillion has written to Australia’s biggest mining companies describing Rio Tinto’s destruction of Aboriginal rock shelters as a wake-up call and demanding assurances about their relationships with First Nations peoples.

In a letter circulated on Thursday, the investor group which included America’s Fidelity, the Church of England Pensions Board and several top local super funds said their long-term investments meant they needed to have confidence in how miners obtained and maintained their “social licence” with the traditional custodians of their land on which they operated.

The push comes after traditional owners were left devastated and investors shocked and outraged at Rio Tinto’s ill-fated decision to blast through two culturally significant 46,000-year-old rock shelters at Western Australia’s Juukan Gorge to enlarge an iron ore mine.

Banks Don’t Want to Lend to Australia’s Coal Miners Any More – by James Thornhill (Yahoo/Bloomberg – October 28, 2020)

October 29, 2020

https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/

(Bloomberg) — Financing options open to Australia’s coal operators dwindled further after another of the country’s largest banks said it would end almost all investment in thermal mines and power stations by 2030.

The move by Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. will add to the increasing difficulty miners face in funding new operations or expanding their existing assets in the nation, the world’s second-biggest exporter of thermal coal.

Financial institutions across the globe are bowing to pressure from shareholders and lobby groups to avoid investments in the fuel. Meanwhile, Australia’s mining lobby forecasts a booming market, on Tuesday saying that it expects Asian demand to rise 35% over the next decade.

Fortescue sees strong iron ore demand as China churns out record steel – by Nick Toscano (The Age – October 29, 2020)

October 29, 2020

https://www.theage.com.au/

The head of mining giant Fortescue says the strength of the Chinese steel sector has beaten all expectations this year, pushing annual output towards a record 1 billion tonnes and supporting ongoing demand for Australia’s top export, iron ore.

After Fortescue lifted its Western Australian iron ore shipments by 5 per cent in the past three months, chief executive Elizabeth Gaines said China was exhibiting robust demand for the steelmaking raw material and had churned out more than 781 million tonnes of crude steel so far this year.

This marked an increase of 4.5 per cent in steel production for the first nine months of the year compared to the same time last year, and has helped drive a stunning price rally, Ms Gaines said.

Virus fails to dull Diggers-NOT even a global pandemic could stop Diggers & Dealers 2020 – by Kristie Batten (Mining News Net – October 20, 2020)

October 23, 2020

https://www.miningnews.net/

The 29th instalment of the famous Kalgoorlie event looked shaky even as recently as eight weeks ago, but went off without a hitch. Due to COVID-19, this year’s event was held two months later and lacked interstate and international attendees, but it really wasn’t that different to previous years.

The noticeable differences included the heat – it got to a sweltering 37 degrees on the Wednesday – and a few measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Hand sanitiser was included with the delegate bags and sanitiser stations were located around the venue. The venue – comprising the Goldfields Art Centre and two marquees – had separate entry and exit points to control the movement of people.

Rio Tinto-owned company in dispute with Federal Government over Kakadu uranium mine – by Cathy Van Extel and Scott Mitchell (Australian Broadcasting Corporation – October 20, 2020)

October 21, 2020

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

The Ranger Uranium Mine in Kakadu is looming as the next great test of mining giant Rio Tinto, following the international outcry over the destruction of the 46,000-year-old Juukan caves in the Pilbara.

A subsidiary of Rio Tinto is in dispute with the Federal Government over paying for scientiﬁc monitoring of the mine, which is on the edge of world heritage wetlands and will close in January 2021.

Under an agreement with the Federal Government, the site must be rehabilitated by 2026.

Pacific Battle Over Gold Mine Ends With Barrick Stake Deal (Bloomberg News – October 16, 2020)

October 20, 2020

https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/

(Bloomberg) — Papua New Guinea’s push for greater sway over its own mineral wealth scored a win, with Barrick Gold Corp. agreeing to a deal that will see the South Pacific nation get a big stake in a key gold mine.

Barrick will give Papua New Guinea a “major share” of the Porgera mine, the country’s Prime Minister James Marape said Thursday in a joint statement with the Toronto-based miner.

In exchange, Barrick can re-open and keep operating the facility, which had been suspended after the government didn’t extend its mining lease in April, and there would be a “fair sharing” of the economic benefits.

Canada, Australia and U.S. launch the Critical Minerals Mapping Initiative – by Greg Klein (Resource Clips – October 16, 2020)

October 19, 2020

http://resourceclips.com/

Increasing concern about the need for non-Chinese supply chains has generated much talk but fewer tangible efforts. Recent news, however, outlines plans formulated by two of the world’s major mining countries along with the world’s largest economy.

Canada, Australia and the U.S. intend to work together on the Critical Minerals Mapping Initiative. Following bi-national MOUs that the U.S. signed with each of the others, the CMMI intends to have the trans-national trio pool its knowledge, co-operate on research and provide publicly available info.

The collaboration calls for the three countries to:

-share data
-unify critical minerals analyses
-build on existing datasets
-identify gaps in knowledge
-learn more about critical minerals in different deposit types
-enhance working relationships

LANG HANCOCK: Clash of the dynasties: Pilbara’s role as kingmaker for nation’s wealthy makes it a risk worth fighting over – by Aja Styles (Sydney Morning Herald – October 19, 2020)

October 19, 2020

https://www.smh.com.au/

The legal war being waged by Wright Prospecting over Pilbara iron ore tenement Hope Downs, coupled with its acquisition of Rhodes Ridge, has the capacity to reshape Western Australia’s mining landscape for generations to come.

Edith Cowan University business lecturer Tom Barratt says Wright’s improved riches could allow it to become more active in a region that has produced the nation’s biggest mining heavyweights.

Wright Prospecting is chasing a 25 per cent stake in the Hope Downs 4, 5 and 6 mining tenements – currently split 50/50 between Hancock Prospecting and Rio Tinto – as well as half the royalties from Hope Downs 1, 2 and 3.

Clash of the dynasties: Legal showdown looms over Lang Hancock’s multi-billion dollar iron ore tenement – by Aja Styles (Sydney Morning Herald – September 3, 2020)

October 19, 2020

https://www.smh.com.au/

The end game in a historic feud over Western Australia’s iron ore throne looks set to begin as the Pilbara’s biggest mining dynasties prepare to clash in the Supreme Court.

The historic showdown will unearth the 1960s business dealings of late mining magnate Lang Hancock relating to the multibillion-dollar Hope Downs iron ore tenement in what is shaping up to become the state’s biggest civil court case.

On the one side is Mr Hancock’s daughter and the richest woman in Australia, Gina Rinehart, coupled with her company Hancock Prospecting. On the other are the heirs of Mr Hancock’s business partner, Peter Wright, and the descendants of a third Pilbara mining pioneer, Don Rhodes.