NewsBite

Mining

Yesterday

The main crusher at Northern Star’s famed Super Pit broke down in early December.

Northern Star loses lustre as gold giant cuts production forecasts

Northern Star resources took a month to inform the market about a major equipment breakdown at its famed Super Pit in the WA gold hub of Kalgoorlie.

Three workers have been killed at Coronado’s Curragh coal mine since 2020.

Coronado halts Queensland coal mine production after death

Authorities are probing an underground incident that killed one person and injured another, adding to the highly indebted miner’s long list of setbacks.

This Month

Mineral Resources’ Mungala Resort has a mini golf course, Olympic size swimming pool, luxurious accommodation and lavish food.

Top FIFO camp operator lifts its game as $2.5b contract decision looms

Australia’s biggest provider of food and accommodation services to remote mining sites remains loss-making after hiring 900 more staff.

Nickel smelting in Indonesia, which controls nearly 70 per cent of global production.

How a reclusive ex-Glencore trader became Indonesia’s nickel king

In less than a decade, Arif Kurniawan has gone from earning pay cheques at Glencore to controlling about a third of his country’s domestic trade in nickel ore.

December 2025

CMRG said in late October that the way the industry sets prices is “irrational” and influenced by overseas futures markets, as US-dollar benchmarks are used.

Rio, Fortescue change benchmark used for China iron ore pricing

Both Rio and Fortescue will stop using S&P Global Energy Platts Iron Ore Index for term contracts, according to people familiar with the matter.

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Kaan Caydamar is a bricklayer in Perth who left a FIFO job operating cranes on a mine site to have a more settled life.

Why this brickie earning $600 a day is a big problem for mining

Perth’s construction market is booming, with demand for skilled tradies pushing up wages and tempting FIFO mining workers to return home for comparable pay.

Fortescue ships first product from Belinga iron ore project in Gabon.
History has been made in Gabon with Fortescue’s first product from its Belinga iron ore project ready for shipment, marking the first time the Company has exported iron ore from a port outside of Australia. 
Image Supplied by Fortescue

Fortescue aims for 2030 debut in African iron ore

The miner says it will liaise directly with the Gabonese president over development of the Belinga project to be shipping by 2030.

BHP loses challenge to ‘same job, same pay’ orders

BHP could turn to the High Court after a full court threw out the company’s appeal, which argued that Labor’s exemption was “near impossible” to meet.

Boss Energy has found uranium is harder to produce than promote

Boss Energy shares crash on uranium mine downgrade

The honeymoon is over for the company after its stock price slumped to a four-year low on proof its South Australian site contains less minerals than expected.

Simandou iron ore project in southeastern Guinea.

US miners take on Rio Tinto’s Simandou project

The Ivanhoe Atlantic project would supply iron ore to America and its allies but faces opposition in West Africa – and Washington.

Rio Tinto has approved early work to begin at its prized Rhodes Ridge project in WA’s vast Pilbara.

Rio Tinto begins work on Pilbara’s ‘last crown jewel’

The mining giant has approved early work to begin on the mammoth Rhodes Ridge iron ore project in Western Australia.

Macquarie’s strategists are more optimistic about Australian miners heading in the new year amid the prospects of rate hikes by the RBA.

Mining stocks best way to play rate hikes in 2026: Macquarie

With bond pricing now suggesting a one-in-four chance of a rate hike in Australia from as early as February, the investment bank is even more optimistic about materials.

Fortescue to buy Peruvian copper explorer

With a $151.7 million takeover, the company has backed itself to convince a reluctant community in Peru that it should host a major mine.

A cargo ship unloads imported iron ore at the Qingdao Port ore terminal in China.

China ramps up BHP iron ore price fight with tough port rules

The Asian giant’s campaign to control the global iron ore trade has escalated after news the main Beijing-backed buyer is pushing new port rules for miners.

Solid end to the year for BHP chair Ross McEwan and CEO Mike Henry.

Elementary, my dear Watson! APA’s punchy Pilbara buy eyed post BHP-GIP

APA CEO Adam Watson appears to be the latest hapless chief executive to pay an eye-watering strategic premium in the hope of growth.

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Nyrstar’s Port Pirie smelter in South Australia.

Commodities giant Trafigura slashes Australian smelters value by $363m

Trafigura has impaired the value of its Tasmanian and South Australian smelters as it waits for taxpayers to fund an extension.

The WAIO powers BHP’s Pilbara iron ore operations.

BHP strikes $3b infrastructure deal with BlackRock

The world’s biggest miner is pushing ahead with its plan to free up cash through infrastructure deals, offloading a stake in its WA grid to the US fund.

Copper extended its run.

Copper extends record run as Citi joins bullish chorus

Copper has risen to a fresh high, after Citigroup analysts predicted it could average $US13,000 in the second quarter as inventories build in the US.

Rio executive Simon Trott grew up in the Western Australian farming community of Wickepin.

Rio Tinto to sell up to $15b of assets, cut decarbonisation spending

In his first strategy briefing since taking the helm 102 days ago, chief executive Simon Trott said he wanted Rio to become the world’s “most valued” miner.

Copper

‘Harder to find’: Inside the growing global hunt for copper

Data centres and green grids are heavy users of the red metal, but mine supply is stagnating, and new discoveries are rare.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/mining-5zq