NewsBite

Elouise Fowler

This Month

The Nickel Industries Hengjaya mine

Nickel Industries’ stock slumps after major investor exits

About $600 million was wiped from Nickel Industries market cap after a major investor dumped stock and the Indonesian government proposed a hike in mining royalties.

Jervois cobalt operations in the US state of Idaho

Shareholders sue to stop ‘rushed’ bankruptcy of cobalt miner Jervois

Two small shareholders are suing collapsed cobalt miner Jervois Global in a Texas court to halt a winding up that will erase hundreds of millions of dollars of investor capital.

Men taking up a disproportionate share of senior and high-paid roles is a major driver of the gender pay gap.

Five charts that explain the gender pay gap

Men taking up a disproportionate share of executive positions is a major driver of the disparity. These charts offer some interesting revelations.

XXX

Australia’s top-paying companies among worst pay gap culprits

A total of 24 companies pay their top-earning workers $1 million or more, but none of them have a neutral gender pay gap.

February

The bargaining covers Whitehaven Coal’s Narrabri coal mine in NSW.

Yancoal to deploy $1.8b on M&A

Australia’s No. 2 coal miner plans to use its war chest from the coal boom to acquire assets, possibly overseas and beyond coal.

Advertisement
The Kwinana processing facility part-owned by IGO near Perth.

Lithium producer IGO plunges to $782m loss

The miner’s loss highlights Australia’s lithium refining struggles.

Fortescue chairman Andrew Forrest and Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation chief executive Michael Woodley.

Fortescue faces $1.8b native title compensation claim

The claim escalates a long battle over Yindjibarndi lands, home to Fortescue’s Solomon iron ore hub.

Global Lithium Resources has two WA operations, including its Manna project near Kalgoorlie.

Board drama as Global Lithium succumbs to ‘Chinese’ takeover

New leadership denies claims of covert foreign influence over the WA-based critical minerals group.

Coal stockpiles at Pembroke Resources’s at Olive Downs mine in Queensland.

Pembroke secures $875m loan to double Queensland coal development

The privately held owner of a major Bowen Basin mine has secured the debt from international investors in a sign of renewed appetite to lend to the commodity.

Bags of lithium at a facility owned by CATL in China. The company has restarted one of its major mines.

Investors fear Chinese mine restart puts lithium resurgence in danger

CATL, the world’s largest electric vehicle battery manufacturer, is restarting its major Jiangxi operation, a move which could keep prices depressed.

January

The IGO and Chinese-owned Tianqi lithium hydroxide plant at Kwinana, south of Perth.

IGO’s profit pain worsens as lithium stockpiles grow

The battery minerals producer posted a big loss in the last three months of 2024 amid a price slump and a drop in demand. It expects losses to continue.

Itochu remains a shareholder in Whitehaven’s Maules Creek coal mine.

Whitehaven sells more coal but supply depresses prices

Australia’s largest independent coal miner has fetched “disappointing” prices over the last quarter as the coal super-cycle fades.

Andrew Forrest is bidding for Red Hawk’s Blacksmith iron ore deposit, which could be linked up with Fortescue’s existing Pilbara infrastructure.

Fortescue offers $254m for nearby Pilbara iron ore deposit

Billionaire Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue has secured the backing of deposit owner Red Hawk’s board with an all-cash offer.

Andrew Forrest addresses staff at the Iron Bridge ore processing facility in the Pilbara in December.

Fortescue posts record tonnes as tariff threat hangs over iron ore

Shares in Australia’s top three iron ore miners have fallen since US President Donald Trump threatened to impose 10 per cent tariffs on China.

Liontown Mining, Kathleen Valley Lithium 

Liontown Resources beats expectations amid lithium rout

Lithium miners have struggled through a bear market for the battery mineral, driven by weaker-than-expected sales of EVs and strong supply from new mines.

Advertisement
Buying Glencore would give Rio a stake in the Collahuasi mine in Chile, one of the richest deposits, that the company has coveted for more than a decade.

Rio Tinto-Glencore merger would surpass BHP in size

Combining the two businesses would form the world’s second-largest copper producer, in a land grab for the most in-demand metal of the electrification era.

Rio Tinto expects demand for its iron ore to remain steady in 2025.

Rio Tinto says China property market shows signs of ‘stabilising’

The mining giant believes demand for iron ore has peaked but remains healthy, and expects demand for the steel-making material will hold steady in 2025.

New Hope will double coal production by the end of the decade.

Queensland coal mine to boost output after legal hurdle overcome

New Hope will ramp up its New Acland mine after striking a legal deal around water use, ending more than a decade of litigation on the long-stalled project.

Julie Bishop in 2019.

Julie Bishop hired to advise ASX-listed Greenland explorer

Energy Transition Minerals has become the latest mining client to join the former foreign minister’s consulting stable, which includes Mineral Resources.

Coal mines around Muswellbrook in NSW. The price boom has been lucrative for the federal budget, and for regional communities.

Coal price slumps to three-year low as super-cycle fades

The commodity is now selling for 23 per cent less than it was only five months ago as a surge in global supply meets a warmer-than-usual northern summer.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/by/elouise-fowler-h18i2r