Bravus defends ‘impeccable’ record, as Green groups push for review

Bravus says its Australian operations and future have not been impacted by the shocking share price crash of parent company Adani, with activists now pushing for reviews of the miner’s ability to meet its obligations.

BRAVUS says its Australian operations and future has not been impacted by its parent company Adani’s shocking share price crash and defended its “impeccable” record, after activists pushed for high-level reviews of the mining group’s ability to meet its obligations.

The Australian Conservation Foundation on Thursday wrote to Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and federal Environmental Minister Tanya Plibersek calling for them to review Bravus mine’s ability to meet its obligations in Australia.

It followed Adani having $100 billion wiped of its share price after US-based short-seller Hindenberg Research released a report on January 24 with untested claims of fraud against the company.

Adani Group head Gautam Adani. Picture: Indranil Mukherjee/AFP)

Adani Group’s share price fell about 50 per cent in the following 10 days, from about A$59 a share to A$27.

It has recovered somewhat to about A$39 since then.

ACF boss Kelly O’Shanassy raised concerns on whether the changed financial circumstances of Bravus’s parent company would impact the mine’ s ability to meet obligations, such as its rehabilitation bond and biodiversity fund.

“In light of the new, serious allegations in the Hindenburg report and the significant changes in Adani’s financial position, we believe you should review the conditions attached to the approval for the Adani Group’s Carmichael Coal Mine and Rail Project with the view to confirm that the Adani Group still has capacity to continue to comply with these conditions for the lifetime of the project,” she wrote in the letter.

A Bravus spokeswoman said the Hindenberg Research report presented information in “a misleading way” to undermine the company’s reputation in a bid to make profit by short-selling shares.

Australian Conservation Foundation CEO Kelly O'Shanassy.

“All our businesses are Australian companies that comply with Australian corporations and securities legislation,” she said.

“Our balance sheet is very healthy with strong cashflows and secure assets and we have an impeccable track record of servicing our debt. There is no impact on our existing operations and future plans.”

An Environment Department spokeswoman said they expected all approval holders to comply with their conditions and used a suite of compliance tools to enforce this.

“Approval holders who fail in their responsibility to comply with conditions of approval may be subject to civil or criminal prosecution,” she said.

The department conducts audits and compliance activity on a risk-based approach.

A government spokesman said the state had surety in place to mitigate risk to taxpayers and any contracts entered into were subject to rigorous due diligence.

“All mining projects in Queensland are independently assessed against the conditions for holding a mining lease and environmental approvals and must adhere to those conditions,” he said.

Originally published as Bravus defends ‘impeccable’ record, as Green groups push for review