Twitter

Australia/New Caledonia/Papua New Guinea Mining

Brazil’s iron ore industry misery, a boom for Australian big miners (Merco Press – May 29, 2019)

https://en.mercopress.com/

Iron ore prices look set to be stronger for longer, potentially delivering windfall profits for West Australia’s big miners for the next two years.

As the iron ore price hit a five-year high of US$107.50/t this week, analysts have begun scrambling to revise their estimates as they start to digest the impact of supply disruptions out of Brazil and how long the outages could linger.

Iron ore giant Vale has been forced to close mines in Brazil, representing about 90 million tons of annual product, after a tailing dam disaster in January which killed hundreds. The company is facing another dam failure at one of its inactive mines and its 30mtpa Brucutu mine remains closed with lingering uncertainty as to when it can reopen.

Read more

West is best: profiling Western Australia’s mining boom – by Scarlett Evans (Mining Technology – May 27, 2019)

https://www.mining-technology.com/

Mining has long been a leading source of income for Australia’s west coast, and now new research from analyst firm IBISWorld has indicated the state is heading towards a new mining peak. Scarlett Evans looks at the projects driving the region’s mining sector, and the obstacles still faced in its ascent.

Western Australia (WA) is a world leader in the production of minerals and petroleum commodities, with these sectors bringing in 92% of the state’s income from merchandise exports between 2015 and 2016.

Figures from the Government of Western Australia show that between 2017 and 2018, the mining industry accounted for 30% of WA’s gross state product – and the sector is only anticipated to continue growing, with an influx of investments coming in over the past two years and record sales figures between 2017 and 2018.

Read more

Australia, US should form battery mineral alliance, says lithium chief – by Jacob Greber (Australian Financial Review – May 22, 2019)

https://www.afr.com/

Washington | Australia and the US may need to jettison free-market orthodoxy and develop a strategic alliance to guarantee supply of the raw materials essential to the new era of battery-based electrification.

James Calaway, chairman of Australian-listed lithium developer Ioneer, said there was an “unusual amount” of interest within the US and Australian governments over the vulnerabilities of critical supply chains for battery technology.

“I don’t think we need to get into protectionism, but we can talk about what do we need to do to encourage domestic investment in value-added materials and development,” Mr Calaway, who is based in Houston, Texas, said in an interview. “That shouldn’t be off the table.”

Read more

Global miner BHP plans to expand nickel output amid battery boom (Reuters U.S. – May 21, 2019)

https://www.reuters.com/

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Global miner BHP Group on Wednesday said it plans to expand its nickel sulphide operations amid an expected boom in demand for the material in electric vehicle batteries.

But the company is not looking to produce main battery ingredient lithium as it sees such output having slimmer profits.

Speaking at a strategy briefing on long-term asset allocation, BHP Chief Financial Officer Peter Beaven said growth in nickel could come from either exploration or acquisitions.

Read more

Voters Won’t Decide the Future of Energy – by David Fickling (Bloomberg/Yahoo News – May 20, 2019)

https://news.yahoo.com/

(Bloomberg Opinion) — Who decides the future of energy – the producers, or the consumers?

It’s a question that’s been asked at least since the 1970s, when the growing muscle of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and the 1973 oil embargo sparked the founding of the International Energy Agency as a rival group to represent the interests of oil importers.

That same pattern has been playing out in recent days with elections in one of the world’s biggest energy exporters and one of its biggest importers. Both will have a crucial impact on the direction of global energy policies – particularly in its dirtiest form, fossil fuels.

Read more

Australian gold miners on the hunt for Canadian assets – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – May 21, 2019)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Here come the Aussies. Flush with cash, Australian mining companies are buying Canadian gold mines and more are expected to join the fray.

Last week, Melbourne-based St. Barbara Ltd. reached a friendly agreement to buy Vancouver’s Atlantic Gold Corp. for $722-million. Atlantic owns and operates a very profitable gold mine in Nova Scotia with a long reserve life.

Earlier this year, Australia’s biggest gold company, Newcrest Mining Corp., paid US$806-million for a majority stake in Red Chris, one of Imperial Metal Corp.’s prized gold and copper mines.

Read more

COLUMN-Australia’s shock election shows killing coal mining is no sure thing – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.S. – May 19, 2019)

https://www.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, Australia, May 19 (Reuters) – While Australia’s opposition Labor Party is the obvious loser from the weekend election, the anti-coal environmental lobby suffered probably a bigger blow and will need to re-think its strategy to end mining of the polluting fuel.

The conservative Liberal Party-led coalition is likely to have pulled off one of the great political escapes by returning to office for a third term, confounding polls and pundits who thought Labor was a near certainty to win the May 18 election.

While Prime Minister Scott Morrison may not secure an outright majority in the 151-seat lower house of parliament, results indicated that Labor, led by former unionist Bill Shorten, would have no chance of victory.

Read more

Mining magnate aims to be kingmaker after Australian election – by Melanie Burton and Jonathan Barrett (Reuters U.S. – May 17, 2019)

https://www.reuters.com/

MELBOURNE/SYDNEY (Reuters) – A billionaire who built his own Jurassic Park and promises a replica Titanic may hold the balance of power in Australia’s parliament if his populist campaign wins enough votes in Saturday’s general election.

Clive Palmer, whose slogan “Make Australia Great” echoes U.S. President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, has spent tens of millions of dollars on a campaign aimed at disaffected voters in a country where casting a ballot is compulsory.

The unprecedented spending in an Australian election could help the businessman capture a powerful bloc in the upper house Senate, analysts say, and force a new government to seek his help to pass legislation.

Read more

The lithium industry needs a $17b injection to meet 2025 demand – here come the deals – by Angela East (Stockhead.com.au – May 15, 2019)

https://stockhead.com.au/

Corporate deals in the lithium industry are heating up at a time when there is a predicted multi-billion-dollar cash injection needed to ramp up supply to meet rapidly growing demand.

One expert says at least US$12 billion ($17.3 billion) needs to be invested in new lithium projects by 2025 if the industry is to have any realistic hope of matching supply with demand.

US lithium expert Joe Lowry told delegates at the Latin America Downunder mining conference in Perth that the ‘Big Four’ global lithium producers – SQM, Albemarle, Jiangxi Ganfeng Lithium and Tianqi – could not alone meet 2025 lithium demand.

Read more

Australia’s St. Barbara to acquire Canada’s Atlantic Gold in $722-million deal – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – May 16, 2019)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Australia’s St. Barbara Ltd. is buying Canada’s Atlantic Gold Corp. in a friendly transaction worth $722-million – more evidence of a resurgence in deal-making in the global gold sector. Vancouver-based Atlantic owns and operates a small but very profitable gold mine in Nova Scotia.

St. Barbara is paying $2.90 a share for Atlantic, about a 40-per-cent premium to the Tuesday closing price. In addition, shareholders will receive the equivalent of 5 cents a share in a spin-off company that will hold Atlantic’s equity stake in Velocity Minerals Ltd., a small development stage company.

St. Barbara is funding the deal through a mix of cash on hand and proceeds from an equity issue. In an interview, Atlantic’s chief executive officer Steven Dean said there was “a good deal of interest from a number of parties,” but that St. Barbara’s offer, which was almost all-cash, was particularly compelling.

Read more

Australia’s St Barbara snaps up Canada’s Atlantic Gold for $536 mln – by Melanie Burton (Reuters Canada – May 14, 2019)

https://ca.reuters.com/

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Australian gold miner St Barbara said on Wednesday it will buy smaller Canadian peer Atlantic Gold Corp for C$722 million ($536 million), marking a second overseas acquisition for cashed-up Australian producers.

St Barbara’s C$2.90 a share cash offer represents a 39% premium to Atlanta Gold’s closing price on Tuesday in a deal that analysts said opened up growth options, but could lead to a call on capital and crimp dividends.

“Buying an unknown asset in a new country which itself potentially requires a fresh injection of capital… could present an additional barrier for some investors,” said RBC Capital in a report.

Read more

UPDATE 2-BHP to keep Nickel West, Rio looks to Jadar lithium for battery boom (Reuters Africa – May 14, 2019)

https://af.reuters.com/

LONDON, May 14 (Reuters) – Global miner BHP will hold on to the Australian nickel operations it previously put up for sale, while Rio Tinto is working on copper and lithium projects as the mining industry bets on demand for electric vehicle (EV) batteries.

The biggest mining companies say they are well positioned to provide the metals needed for the shift to EV technology, although they acknowledge the political risks and environmental issues in some of the countries where the best supplies are found.

Nickel is in demand to allow cars to travel further on a single charge. Using more nickel also cuts costs by reducing the use of expensive cobalt, a mainstay of current EV batteries.

Read more

[Australia] The Land Where Coal Remains King – by Jason Scott (Bloomberg News – May 7, 2019)

https://news.yahoo.com/

(Bloomberg) — For Ann Taylor, the idea that Australia’s colossal coal industry should be tamed is risible. Taylor is mayor of a council in Queensland state that already hosts 26 mines. She wants more added from the nearby Galilee Basin, a coal-rich area about the size of the U.K. that, if fully developed, could more than double Australia’s exports of the fuel.

“We’re absolutely pro-coal mining and proud of it—that’s why we’re here,” Taylor said in her office in Moranbah, a town of 8,000 people that owes its half-century existence to the industry. “There’s a lot of life left in coal.”

Coal is Australia’s second-largest income generator after iron ore, and many lawmakers welcome efforts to boost an industry that brings in A$60 billion ($42 billion) a year. None more so than Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who as the country’s treasurer two years ago brandished a lump of coal in parliament, taunting lawmakers from the opposition Labor party that they were scared of the fuel because they favored more cuts to carbon emissions.

Read more

Column: Iron ore tugged between Brazilian supply shock, Trump’s trade war – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.K. – May 7, 2019)

https://uk.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, Australia (Reuters) – Iron ore prices look increasingly caught between the bullish reality of lower supply from Brazil and the bearish possibility of weaker demand if President Donald Trump carries out his threat to ramp up his tariff war against China.

The price action in the wake of Trump’s Twitter threat on Sunday to ramp up tariffs on $200 billion of imports from China to 25 percent was indicative of iron ore’s dilemma.

Iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange, the most liquid market for the steel-making ingredient, dropped in early trade as investors fretted that the trade talks between the United States and China had been effectively derailed.

Read more

Vale’s latest legal blow boosts iron ore stocks – by Brad Thompson (Australian Financial Review – May 7, 2019)

https://www.afr.com/

Australia’s booming iron ore stocks are tipped to stay higher for longer in the wake of the latest blow to Brazilian producer Vale’s plan to reopen mines that were shuttered in the wake of the tragic Brumadinho tailings dam collapse.

Vale was forced to suspend work at its 30 million tonne-a-year Brucutu mine on Monday after a Brazilian court overturned an earlier ruling that it could reopen.

The ruling from the higher court came as Vale said it expected sales of iron ore and pellets to be at the low to mid-end of previous guidance of 307 million tonnes to 332 million tonnes in 2019.

Read more