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Escondida copper mine in Chile says to restart operations (Reuters U.S. – March 14, 2017)

http://www.reuters.com/

The Escondida copper mine in Chile plans to restart operations after striking workers again rejected an invitation by controlling owner BHP Billiton to return to negotiations, an executive told reporters late Tuesday.

The world’s largest copper mine will first resume work in two areas of the mine that are unrelated to the current talks, Escondida Mine President Marcelo Castillo said at a news conference in the city of Antofagasta.

The company will then begin to do additional maintenance work, before finally re-establishing mining operations and restarting copper production. “We hope that in some way opportunities for dialogue come about…but with the posture that we saw yesterday (from the union) and that all of you saw yesterday, it’s difficult to be able to hope for a conversation in the short term,” Castillo said.

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Top Iron Miners’ Cash Juggernaut Set to Survive Price Crash – by David Stringer (Bloomberg News – March 13, 2017)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

The world’s biggest iron ore miners will be able to withstand the expected plunge in prices because their race to cut production costs has dramatically lowered the industry’s margin pressure point, allowing them to keep fueling a cash juggernaut that’s revived the mining sector.

More than 90 percent of producers in the global seaborne market can generate profits at a benchmark price of $60 a metric ton, Adrian Doyle, a Sydney-based senior consultant at researcher CRU Group, said by phone. That compares with about 65 percent of suppliers able to avoid losses at the same price point three years ago, he said.

“There have been fantastic cost reductions in a lot of instances,” while producers have also been boosted by lower oil prices, Doyle said. “If we were thinking of a pressure point where we’d start to see a bit of stretching in the industry, previously it would’ve been around $60 a ton, now it’s closer to $50 a ton-to-$45 a ton to stress test everyone but the majors.”

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BHP eyes temporary workers to break strike at Chile’s Escondida mine – by Fabian Cambero (Reuters U.K. – March 8, 2017)

http://uk.reuters.com/

SANTIAGO – BHP Billiton (BLT.L) (BHP.AX) may try to restart production at the world’s No.1 copper mine Escondida in Chile using temporary workers once the strike surpasses 30 days, the company told a local radio station on Wednesday.

If their safety could be assured “there is the option of using contractors’ help to try to get production going” and it will be evaluated day by day, Escondida’s corporate affairs director Patricio Vilaplana told Teletrece in an interview.

Local media reported that the company is considering a two-pronged approach as the strike approaches the 30-day mark on Friday – submitting a new contract offer that deals with some of the union’s concerns, and restarting output. BHP declined to comment.

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Escondida strike turns violent as protesters block roads, battle police (Reuters U.S. March 1, 2017)

http://www.reuters.com/

The three-week-long strike at Chile’s Escondida, the world’s biggest copper mine, turned ugly on Wednesday when a group of protesters blocked a highway, provoking confrontations with the police.

Escondida’s approximately 2,500 unionized workers began a strike on Feb. 9 after contract talks with mine owner BHP Billiton failed, boosting global copper prices on expectations of tighter supply.

Early Wednesday morning, dozens of protesters, some with shirts, caps and flags bearing the union’s emblem, illegally barricaded the main road that connects the regional city of Antofagasta with the mine.

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Escondida Deal Hopes Fade as Sides Give Contradicting Views – by Danielle Bochove, Laura Millan Lombrana and David Stringer (Bloomberg News – February 27, 2017)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Copper traders were left confused over the state of play at the world’s top copper mine: the owner said wage talks had resumed, while the union said striking workers have had no contact with management for a week.

“The good news is that we are back around the table and things are starting to come together in some form of a negotiation,” BHP Billiton Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Andrew Mackenzie told Bloomberg TV on Monday. “Let’s wait and see, and others I’m sure will update you on the progress of those talks.”

While BHP-owned Escondida declined to comment further, the union said a meeting last Monday organized by Chilean labor authorities was the last time the two sides have sat down together. Escondida halted output on Feb. 9 after a month of talks failed to produce a wage accord.

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Coal ‘an attractive business’: BHP Billiton chief Andrew Mackenzie – by Matt Chambers (The Australian – February 23, 2017)

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/

BHP Billiton says Chinese coalmining policy that has reined in production means it could develop more Queensland coking coalmines after three years of focusing on squeezing the most cash it could out of the mines and not promoting their growth.

Speaking to investors last night after delivering a $US3.2 billion ($4.2bn) first-half profit, chief executive Andrew Mackenzie said coal remained an attractive business.

“There is no doubt the Chinese tried to restructure their mining activities in both coals, and indeed in iron ore, through their restructuring of steel,” Mr Mackenzie said. “It has probably made the bulks a little bit more investable than they would otherwise have been.”

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World’s biggest miner hasn’t given up hope for potash – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – February 21, 2017)

http://www.mining.com/

BHP Billiton (ASX, NYSE:BHP) (LON:BLT), the largest mining company by market capitalization, sees potash as a key commodity in which to base its future growth despite prices are still hovering just above $210 a tonne, less than a half what they were only five years ago.

“Our preference long term is to grow in oil and copper, then possibly potash,” the firm’s chief executive officer Andrew Mackenzie said when releasing first half of the year results Tuesday.

BHP seems to be in no rush to advance its massive $2.6 billion Jansen potash project in Canada’s Saskatchewan province. For years the company has been sinking shafts and installing some infrastructure on site, but has not fully committed itself to the project, nor received board approval for the mine.

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BHP to Trump: protectionism will hurt growth, commodity demand – by Barbara Lewis (Reuters U.K. – February 21, 2017)

http://uk.reuters.com/

U.S. President Donald Trump’s protectionist stance is likely to erode economic growth over the longer term and therefore demand for raw materials, the chief executive of the world’s biggest miner, BHP Billiton, said on Tuesday.

Mining stocks rallied on expectations Trump’s policies would lead to increased infrastructure spending in the United States and, just before Trump took office, Mackenzie had a meeting with the president-elect, which officials said was productive.

Andrew Mackenzie said it would be good news for the resources sector if Trump could unlock “the challenge of bringing more money into infrastructure”. But he said Trump’s protectionist stance was likely to be bad for growth and therefore ultimately for commodities demand.

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Miners Enjoy Fastest Comeback in a Decade on Surging Profits – by Kevin Crowley and David Stringer (Bloomberg News – February 21, 2017)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

The speed of the mining recovery is faster than anything that’s been seen in the past decade. BHP Billiton Ltd. and Anglo American Plc on Tuesday reported the biggest profit increases since at least 2007 on deep cost cuts and rebounding metal prices. The earnings exceeded analysts estimates and highlight mining’s dramatic reversal of fortune in the past year.

The industry is coming back from a crisis that forced some of the top metal producers to sell assets, cut costs and rein in spending after years of over-investment. Metal prices have largely recovered from the downturn and several of the biggest mines are profitable, instead of bleeding cash.

“You can see how cash generative this business can be,” Paul Gait, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein Ltd. in London, said by phone. “I think 2017 is a year of strategic re-positioning and rethinking.”

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BHP Billiton boosts payout on commodities surge – by James Regan (Reuters U.S. – February 21, 2017)

http://www.reuters.com/

SYDNEY – Mining giant BHP Billiton (BHP.AX) (BLT.L) rewarded shareholders with a bigger than expected payout on Tuesday, reflecting a growing confidence across the sector as rising commodity prices delivered a cash windfall.

BHP and other miners are basking in a welcome surge in commodity prices on the back of a renewed appetite in China for imported raw materials, with iron ore prices climbing more than 80 percent in 2016 and coal up as much as 300 percent.

However, BHP chief executive Andrew Mackenzie said the company’s No. 1 focus was still on paying down debt, highlighting an uncertain economic and political outlook. “We preferred, on balance, most of it (extra cash) to go toward the strengthening of our balance sheet,” Mackenzie told reporters. “But we were very keen to signal to our shareholders our commitment to strong cash returns.”

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Mining giants ride copper’s price wave – by Scott Patterson (Dow Jones/The Australian – February 20, 2017)

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/

Copper bulls are looking smart — for now. Some of the world’s biggest mining companies, which have giant copper portfolios, are now poised to reap the rewards, with Anglo American, BHP Billiton and Glencore set to report full- or half-year earnings this week.

The industrial metal has surged more than 30 per cent in the past year, providing rocket fuel for companies that were staring into the abyss a year ago. Shares in Anglo and Glencore have more than tripled in the past 12 months. BHP, which has faced headwinds from a fatal tailings-dam disaster at one of its mining operations in Brazil, is up 62 per cent.

Rio Tinto, which is focusing more on its copper business, offered a preview of how miners’ fortunes have flipped to the upside when it reported earnings earlier this month. The Anglo-Australian mining giant said it returned to a profit in 2016 with $US4.62 billion in earnings, increased its dividend and announced a $US500 million share buyback.

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[Australia mining] Brendon Grylls accuses BHP, Rio-backed mining lobby of ‘wet lettuce’ fight – by Julie-anne Sprague (Australian Financial Review – February 8, 2017)

http://www.afr.com/

WA Nationals leader Brendon Grylls has urged BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto to spend millions of dollars on a campaign against Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s reluctance to change the GST distribution system.

Mr Grylls accused mining lobby group Chamber of Minerals and Energy (CME) of a ‘wet lettuce’ fight with the Federal government during a live ABC radio debate in Perth on Wednesday.

CME chief executive Reg Howard-Smith said the lobby group had spent $2 million fighting Mr Grylls’s proposal, which combined funds from BHP, Rio, the Minerals Council of Australia and the CME. Mr Howard-Smith agreed the GST distribution system was unfair and that the lobby group had publicly declared Western Australia needed a fairer deal.

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Workers at Chile’s Escondida copper mine to strike Thursday: union – by Fabian Cambero (Reuters U.S. – February 7, 2017)

http://www.reuters.com/

ANTOFAGASTA, CHILE – Workers are set to strike on Thursday at BHP Billiton Plc’s Escondida copper mine after contract talks mediated by the Chilean government failed to reach a deal, the main union at the world’s largest copper mine told Reuters.

The union has warned that a strike at the Chilean copper mine could be lengthy, potentially affecting global supplies of a metal used in everything from construction to telecommunications.

BHP Billiton said it planned to halt production during the strike since it could not guarantee the safety of the 80 workers the government had authorized to remain at the mine to perform “critical duties”, such as equipment upkeep and adherence to environmental protocols.

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Right conditions will unlock shared value for all South Africans – South32 – by Martin Creamer (MiningWeekly.com – February 6, 2017)

http://www.miningweekly.com/

CAPE TOWN (miningweekly.com) – The right conditions will enable mining companies to deliver inclusive growth and meet the expectations of stakeholders, as well as deliver superior returns to shareholders, South32 president and COO Africa Mike Fraser said on Monday.

In delivering a forceful address at the Investing in African Mining Indaba, Fraser reinforced mining’s might but emphasised that it is absolutely essential it is backed by a supportive legislative, regulatory and administrative environment to realise its full potential.

“We believe that South Africa’s mining industry still has the potential to grow. The resources are here and the challenge is to work together to create an environment where the minerals that are underground are converted into wealth above ground and thereby create shared value for all,” he told the conference that is being attended by Creamer Media’s Mining Weekly Online.

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BHP drives the next tectonic shift in Australian coal – by Matthew Stevens(Australian Financial Review – February 6, 2017)

http://www.afr.com/

Two weeks ago BHP Billiton rolled a dump truck driving simulator into a recruitment office in Townsville. While this is but a modest technical achievement, the training facility represents another important milestone in the changing the demographics of the Australian coal industry.

BHP operates two mining joint ventures in Queensland and it is the bigger of them – the BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance – that irritated the coal unions by turning on this new training kit.

The bone of contention here is that BMA has identified Townsville as a new source of workers ostensibly, but not exclusively, for its Saraji mine. The plan is to employ upwards of 100 new fly-in, fly out workers through labour hire firms. They will, initially at least, drive the trucks and shovels that move the overburden at Saraji. They might eventually become a sort of truck and shovel driving flying squad who can be deployed anywhere around the BMA fleet.

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