Australia/New Caledonia/Papua New Guinea Mining – Page 76

Roy Hill to recruit up to 600 workers – by Nick Evan (The West Australian – December 7, 2016)

December 7, 2016

https://au.news.yahoo.com/

Roy Hill boss Barry Fitzgerald says the iron ore producer will be looking to recruit another 500-600 mineworkers over the next 18 months as the company ramps up its Pilbara operations.

Roy Hill currently employs about 1300 workers across its Pilbara port, rail and mine operations, and at its Perth Airport Headquarters. As its Pilbara peers again look to slice their own workforces, with Rio currently running a process to axe 500, Mr Fitzgerald said Roy Hill was still recruiting.

“The state of play for us is that we commenced in the north of our deposit, where the ore is closer to the surface,” he said. “As we ramp up production to 55 million tonnes a year we will move further into the ore body and the strip ratio will increase and we will need to move more tonnes.

Rio marks the re-emergence of the miners – by Robert Gottliebsen (The Australian – November 28, 2016)

November 28, 2016

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

In the next two years we are going to have a mining profits boom of considerable magnitude. Don’t be surprised to see the profits of some mining companies rise 50 to 100 per cent above their lows. Sometimes the rise will be even more.

I reached that conclusion as I was listening to the address by the chief executive of Rio Tinto Jean-Sébastien Jacques to some 700 mining, accounting, investment, legal and other executives at the Melbourne Mining Club last week.

Jean-Sébastien Jacques did not actually mention profit trends, so, to get the message, you had to listen very closely to what he was saying and combine that with the mood of the people at the function.

Digging deep for mining resurgence in Queensland’s northwest – by Tenton Akers (Queensland Courier Mail – November 26, 2016)

November 28, 2016

http://www.couriermail.com.au/

Mount Isa, Australia – A “SUPER pit” and revamped royalty scheme could be the key to preventing the mining boom from turning to bust in the state’s northwest. Mount Isa, the engine room of Queensland’s economy for 50 years, has had its setbacks over the decade due to poor mineral prices, but community leaders and residents are confident the ¬rivers of gold can flow again.

Straight-shooting local MP Robbie Katter said greater government incentives were needed, not just meaningless words filled with empty promises that have dogged the north for too long.

Pointing to a diagram drawn on his whiteboard at his Mount Isa ¬office, he floats the idea of a Canadian-inspired mining royalties “ramp up” scheme that he believes could be a game changer for the region.

Chance for Australia to become mining finance hub: Rio chief – by Barry Fitzgerald (The Australian – November 25, 2016)

November 25, 2016

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

Rio Tinto boss Jean-Sebastien Jacques says Australia should take advantage of protectionist uncertainty caused by Brexit and Donald Trump’s election to make a pitch to become the global financial centre for mining.

Mr Jacques told a crowd of 690 people at a Melbourne Mining Club luncheon that the pitch to become the mining industry’s financial centre could be done in alliances with financial markets in Singapore and Hong Kong.

He was quizzed at the luncheon about Rio’s Guinea iron ore corruption scandal, which has led to two senior Rio executives being sacked. But there was no expansion on what has already been said by the company on the subject.

NEW DISCOVERY SERIES ‘LEGEND OF CROC GOLD’ PROMISES PLENTY OF DANGER AND DRAMA – by Charlinda Robinson (Inquisitr.com – November 2016)

November 24, 2016

http://www.inquisitr.com/

On the island of Bougainville, located off the coast of Papua New Guinea, there is a vast untapped gold reserve. According to Red Carpet Crash, there is one thing that has stopped miners from prospecting in the area, and it’s not the years of political unrest the island has experienced.

Aggressive saltwater crocodiles guard Bougainville’s legendary rivers of gold, and they have claimed numerous lives. Now on Legend of Croc Gold, one team of fortune seekers is willing to travel into the lethal heart of crocodile country, where they are determined to mine the uncharted territory.

After the collapse of his previously thriving Alaskan mining business, Farley Dean decides that the reward far outweighs the risk and along with his family and crew, they venture off into the wilds of Bougainville Island.

RBA Sees Boost to [Australian] Economy as Prospects in Mining States Improve Micheal Heath (Bloomberg News – November 22, 2016)

November 23, 2016

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Australia’s economy may get a boost from mining states as the drag from falling resource investment eases and higher commodity prices bring windfall cash.

Nominal demand in Western Australia and Queensland is set to improve, providing support to the national economy, Reserve Bank Assistant Governor Christopher Kent said in a speech in Sydney on Tuesday.

“That would contribute to a rise in domestic inflationary pressures and a gradual return of inflation to more normal levels,” Kent said in the address to economists. “If our forecasts are right, the terms of trade will shift from the substantial headwind of recent years to a slight tail breeze providing some support to the growth of nominal demand.”

Five years after the boom, battle rages over mining wages in Australia – by Jonathan Barrett and Aaron Bunch (Reuters U.S. – November 22, 2016)

November 23, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

SYDNEY/PERTH – Coal prices may be recovering, but there are no celebrations in the mining town of Collie, Western Australia, where workers are fighting Indian conglomerate Lanco Infratech (LAIN.NS) over plans to slash their wages almost in half.

The move to cut pay at Lanco’s Griffin Coal mine comes five years after the peak of a commodity price boom that saw miners, truck drivers and even cleaners earning six-figure incomes in Australia’s remote outback mines and offshore oil and gas fields.

But unwinding the wage hikes has proved difficult after a collapse in prices for coal, iron ore and other resources pushed dozens of mining companies into bankruptcy and many more to the brink.

Path cleared for major Western Australia iron ore mine expansion – by Calla Wahlquist (The Guardian – November 23, 2016)

November 23, 2016

https://www.theguardian.com/

The Environmental Protection Authority has cleared the way for a threefold expansion of Andrew Forrest’s Solomon iron ore mine which would see it remain in production for the next 35 years.

But Western Australian authorities have raised concerns that a new field of water bores needed for the production could affect Hamersley Gorge, which is 4km south of the mine, in Karijini national park.

Under the worst-case scenario, the report said, based on extracting 12 gigalitres of water a year for 30 years, there could be a 12% drop in the amount of water flowing into the gorge.

Rio Tinto cuts WA iron ore jobs, 500 expected to go (Australian Broadcasting Corporation – November 21, 2016)

November 21, 2016

http://www.abc.net.au/

Mining giant Rio Tinto has confirmed it is cutting more jobs across its iron ore division in Western Australia. The company told the ABC “rolling reductions” were underway, with jobs at head office in Perth to be targeted first.

Rio has released a one-line statement acknowledging tough conditions for iron ore. “The market outlook remains challenging and we currently have 1,000 initiatives underway across our business to reduce costs, improve productivity and ensure we remain internationally competitive,” it said.

The iron ore price hit almost $US80 a tonne on Friday, but has fallen to $US72 over the weekend. Rio Tinto said most analysts were forecasting the iron ore price to average $US40–50 a tonne next year.

French loan averts New Caledonia plant demise (Radio New Zealand – November 18, 2016)

November 18, 2016

http://www.radionz.co.nz/

The Brazilian mining conglomerate Vale says a $US200 million loan from the French state has reduced the risk of it shutting its multi-billion dollar nickel plant in New Caledonia.

The funding offer was announced by the French prime minister Manuel Valls at the beginning of last week to help shore up the territory’s economy which is reliant on nickel production.

The head of Vale New Caledonia Darius Khoshnevis said the loan has reduced the risk of the plant’s closure but not eliminated it. The plant in Goro in the territory’s very south, which employs about 1,400 people, has been running at a loss which this year is expected to amount to $US150 million.

Queensland’s new groundwater law a ‘risk’ to resource projects – miners – by Esmarie Swanepoel (MiningWeekly.com – November 18, 2016)

November 18, 2016

http://www.miningweekly.com/

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Despite objections from the resources sector and dire warnings about the impact it will have on the development of coal projects, the Queensland Parliament has backed the Environmental Protection (Underground Water Management) and Other Legislation Amendment (EPOLA) Bill.

In essence, the Bill is aimed at strengthening the effectiveness of the environmental assessment of underground water extraction by resource projects, while allowing for the ongoing scrutiny of the environmental impacts of underground water extraction during the operational phase of a resource project.

The Bill is also aimed at improving the ‘make good’ framework in the current Water Act, ensuring that the administering authority for the Environmental Protection Act is a decision-maker for specific applications relating to environmental authorities.

The hot commodities with leverage to the electric vehicles boom – by Peter Klinger (Australian Financial Review – November 15, 2016)

November 16, 2016

http://www.afr.com/

It was a question out of left field at Tesla Motors’ shareholder meeting in California in May 2016. “Will you be able to source enough lithium to achieve your ambitious electric vehicle growth targets?” a shareholder asked Tesla’s billionaire boss, Elon Musk.

The query summed up the reason so much of Australia’s mining sector is enjoying an extraordinary lithium boom that could wash over into sections of the graphite world.

And as much as Musk tried to hose down concerns his global ambitions could face headwinds because of a slower-than-expected supply-side response to lithium and other commodities, it’s the sort of question the plethora of ASX-listed hopefuls are lapping up with glee.

Rio chief reassures ‘shell-shocked’ staff – by Matt Chambers (The Australian – November 15, 2016)

November 15, 2016

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

Rio Tinto managing director Jean-Sebastien Jacques has told “shell-shocked” staff that he called an investigation the day he found out about potential issues relating to a leaked email exchange between his predecessors Sam Walsh and Tom Albanese over a $US10.5 million payment to a consultant working on the Simandou iron ore project in Guinea.

In his first comments since Rio first made an announcement on the emails, the new Rio chief said company systems and controls had been strengthened since the 2011 payment was made and that Rio’s culture and values were “fundamentally strong”.

In the email to staff on Sunday, Mr Jacques warned that investigations could last several years. The company last week reported itself to anti-corruption agencies in the US, Britain and Australia after the release of the emails sparked an internal review.

Iron-ore tax to shrink Australia’s economy, cost it thousands of jobs – report – by Esmarie Swanepoel (MiningWeekly.com – November 14, 2016)

November 15, 2016

http://www.miningweekly.com/

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The National Party of Western Australia’s proposed new tax on iron-ore could cost Australia about 13 500 jobs and will shrink the economy by about A$2.9-billion a year.

Commissioned by the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA), a research study by Deloitte Access Economic has found that the proposed tax will cost 2 900 jobs in the Pilbara, 3 400 in the broader West Australian economy and 7 200 jobs nationally.

Western Australian Nationals leader Brendon Grylls has proposed the tax, which will impose a A$5/t levy on iron-ore production from the Pilbara, with the aim of raising A$7.2-billion in state funds. Currently, iron-ore miners pay 25c/t.

Australia’s Addiction to Coal – by Richard Denniss (New York Times – November 14, 2016)

November 15, 2016

http://www.nytimes.com/

CANBERRA, Australia — A world determined to limit climate change needs fewer coal mines. Burning coal is the largest single source of greenhouse-gas emissions, and the particles from its combustion are a major cause of air pollution, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths each year.

Despite agreeing to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions at a global climate-change conference in Paris last year, the Australian government has recently given the go-ahead to a private company to open Australia’s biggest coal mine. The state government has declared that the new mine, owned by the Indian Adani conglomerate, is a piece of “critical infrastructure.”

Australia is big in coal. It has a larger share of the export market than Saudi Arabia has of the oil market. Since world leaders agreed in 1992 that climate change was real and that fossil-fuel consumption must decrease, Australian coal exports have more than tripled — from around 125 million tons a year to about 388 million tons.