Author: Chloe Coutinho

A major fire broke out at Viva Energy’s (ASX: VEA) Geelong oil refinery just after 11pm last night, with the blaze now contained to the area of origin.Fire Rescue Victoria says all emergency response personnel and Viva employees had been accounted for and there had been no reported injuries. The Country Fire Authority says the fire is still being fought by fire fighters but there is no threat to the public.Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen says the incident will impact petrol production, with diesel and jet fuel production continuing at the refinery.Minister Bowen told the ABC that the incident appears to be an accident and there were no suspicious circumstances, although the cause remains under investigation.Viva Energy said there was no immediate impact to fuel supply and the company expects to replace any lost production through its fuel import program. The refinery is now running on reduced production rates.The incident comes as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visits Brunei and Malaysia as part of the Federal Government’s efforts to secure more fuel amid a global fuel crisis.At normal rates of consumption, Australia had 38 days of gasoline, 28 days of kerosene and 31 days of diesel as of April 7.WA has also moved to secure its own fuel security, with the WA Government striking a deal with Cambridge Gulf to purchase and store 4 million litres of diesel. The stockpile will be owned and controlled by the WA Government.

Newmont (ASX: NEM) has halted underground operations at its Cadia gold mine following a 4.5-magnitude earthquake in the area last night.In a statement, Newmont said there had been no reported injuries.“Safety procedures functioned effectively and all underground personnel were accounted for and progressively returned above ground,” the company said.Underground operations have been paused while specialist teams undertake inspections and assessments.Two aftershocks of magnitude 2.4 and 2.2 were recorded in the area after the initial earthquake.

Yancoal (ASX: YAL) will acquire an 80% interest in the Kestrel coal mine as part of its acquisition of KCG.Kestrel, the largest producing underground coal mine in Australia, has a 25 year mine life underpinned by 164mt marketable coal reserves, according to Yancoal.Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) previously held an 80% stake in the mine, which it sold in 2018 for US$2.25b.Yancoal chief executive Sharif Burra says the acquisition is a strong strategic fit for Yancoal, adding another high-quality, long-life mine to the company’s portfolio.“Kestrel delivers increased scale and diversification to Yancoal’s portfolio and is expected to contribute premium metallurgical coal into our product mix,” he said.“The acquisition positions us to deliver greater value to our shareholders and consolidates Yancoal’s position as a leading Australian coal miner.”On completion, Yancoal will pay an upfront cash consideration of $2.5b (US$1.85b) plus contingent cash consideration up to a maximum of $771m (US$550m) in total.Completion of the acquisition is targeted for the end of Q3 CY26.

Element 25 (ASX: E25) has secured commitments for an $18m share placement to fund the expansion of its Butcherbird manganese project in WA to 1.1mtpa of manganese oxide concentrate.This follows the June 2025 announcement that the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) would support the project with a $50m investment.Element 25 managing director Justin Brown comments on the expansion.“Expanding Butcherbird is an important part of our strategy to sell manganese concentrate to steel industry partners as well as using it as feedstock in our plans to produce HPMSM,” he said.“We are pleased with the support from new and existing shareholders in this placement, particularly in light of the challenging market backdrop.”Under the placement, the company will issue 60 million fully paid ordinary shares at an issue price of $.30/share, representing a 9.1% discount to the last close price on April 8. The placement is expected to settle on April 22.

Black Cat Syndicate’s (ASX: BC8) Lakewood processing facility has begun processing ore from the Fingals open pit and Majestic underground mines in WA.In February last year, Black Cat acquired the facility from Westgold Resources (ASX: WGX), in a move that brought forward Kal East by 15 months.Across the next 12 months, the company will invest $20m of operating cashflow to expand the processing facility’s capacity from 1.2mtpa to 1.5mtpa.Meanwhile, the Fingals open pit and Majestic underground mines continue to ramp up, with an estimated 183kt stockpile of ore currently available for processing.Black Cat managing director James Bruce comments on the milestone.“The successful ramp-up of the Fingals and Majestic mines within twelve months and within budget is a credit to the ‘can-do’ culture and experience of the Black Cat team,” he said.“The capital-efficient expansion of Lakewood will unlock further value from our Kal East operations for years to come.“Securing sufficient contracted fuel is an important outcome at a time when uncertainty persists across Australian fuel supply networks.”Black Cat says it is not currently experiencing supply issues with diesel or fuel. Lakewood is grid connected and does not require fuel for the vast majority of its power requirements.

Monadelphous (ASX: MND) has been awarded new contracts and contract extensions with Rio Tinto, BHP, Queensland Alumina and Harmony Gold.The contract with Rio will see the engineering company undertaking fabrication, supply, installation and commissioning of a new dust collector and ventilation system for the coarse ore stockpile tunnels at Paraburdoo iron ore mine in WA.Work is expected to be completed in Q1 CY27.Monadelphous has also been awarded a two-year extension to its existing maintenance services contract at BHP’s Olympic Dam operations in South Australia. The extension includes mechanical and electrical maintenance, shutdown works and project services.At Queensland Alumina’s operations in Gladstone, Monadelphous has secured a two-year extension for the provision of mechanical maintenance and shutdown services. The scope of the contract has been expanded to include demolition and power generation work.Monadelphous has also secured work with Harmony Gold on the construction of a cyclone dewatering plant and associated pipeline at Hidden Valley gold mine in Papua New Guinea.

We are looking at the Moon, again. And running out of fuel, again.It’s hard to tell whether we are getting ahead of or behind ourselves as our oldest concerns creep out of the shadows.It’s not 1988. The US isn’t launching Operation Praying Mantis against targets in the Gulf, hastening the end of the Iran-Iraq War. But the Strait of Hormuz is once again under pressure.It’s not 1969. Neil Armstrong isn’t making his giant leap, delivering a psychological victory to the American people as the Cold War simmers on. But the Moon is seeing its first astronauts since the Apollo program.Across the decades and celestial bodies, it’s hard to tell where we’re at. Are we cobbling together some sort of post-modern dystopian future populated by Lovecraftian ethical abominations of our own making? Or perhaps stomping around in a primitive reality, hitting each other with clubs and betting on the cart to drag the horse along with it?Let’s be realistic and agree on somewhere in between.Either way, there is comfort in Artemis II’s historic mission, where four people carry our humanity quietly through space.Back on Earth, things are far less rosy, as the age-old issue of fuel keeps us grounded.Our traditional industries are scrambling to keep the lights on. Ordinary people are weighing the gamble of filling a tank. And even Elon Musk, long fixated on building a “self-growing city” on Mars, has pulled his gaze back to the Moon.Tech overlords, they’re just like us.And just like us, they are still constrained by some laws. SpaceX is now flaunting the Moon as a timelier and more practical destination than the red planet due in part to the pesky issue of orbital mechanics.Occam’s razor reminds us that the simplest solution is usually the best. It omits the bit about the blade coming back to bite if forgotten in a pocket. Before boarding Musk’s latest flight of capital, err, progress, it’s worth sitting with that sting.I’m not looking forward to returning my full attention to earthbound matters when Artemis II splashes down tomorrow. But beyond the ten-day mission, I hope we can still find a silver lining in space — just don’t tell the asteroid miners!Long before our latest lunar ambition there was Vanguard 1, still holding on as the oldest artificial object in orbit. Launched in 1958, it was the world’s first solar-powered satellite, fittingly free from the fuel constraints that are binding us on Earth.According to the Russians, that’s the one that counts.Off the Record is The Australian Mining Review's weekly column. 

Greatland Resources’ (ASX: GGP) proposed Havieron underground mine has won backing from the WA EPA, under conditions that include a ban on night-time haulage to protect the critically endangered night parrot.The miner's proposal includes waste rock landforms, evaporation ponds, expanded groundwater abstraction and a 55km haul road for trucking ore from Havieron to Telfer for processing for a combined total of 32mt of ore production.WA EPA Chair Darren Walsh says the protection of conservation-significant fauna was front and centre of the environmental impact assessment.“The EPA’s recommended conditions would ensure that implementation of the proposal would result in no disturbance to critical habitat for the night parrot, and protections for the greater bilby population within and adjacent to the project area,” he said.“The EPA considers that impacts can be significantly reduced through speed limits during day-time haulage, prohibition of night?time haulage operations on the Telfer Havieron haul road, use of fauna spotters, buffers around active burrows and roosts and fauna crossings to maintain ecological connectivity.“Pre-clearance surveys and fauna exclusion areas have also been recommended to minimise any direct impact to terrestrial fauna such as the night parrot, greater bilby and great desert skink.”According to Greatland, Havieron represents Australia’s third largest underground gold ore reserve with an updated ore reserve of 38.5mt at 2.63g/t gold and .33% copper for 3.3moz gold and 128kt copper.The miner’s base-case ‘Havieron Standalone’ operating cost model assumes no extension of the current Telfer mine life, with the Telfer mill processing only Havieron ore.Greatland is targeting first gold about 2.5 years after final investment decision. Havieron has an initial mine life of 17 years, including an initial nine-year steady state period.The EPA’s report to the Minister for Environment is now open for a three-week public appeal period, closing on April 29.Greatland reported production of 82,723oz gold and 4128t copper in the March quarter. The miner currently expects FY26 full year production to be around, or slightly above, the upper end of its guidance range of 260,000–310,000oz gold.The miner says the Telfer operation is not currently impacted by diesel supply disruptions as fuel is supplied directly by a global oil major on a long-term contract via Port Hedland.

Perenti (ASX: PRN) has extended its existing contract with Regis Resources (ASX: RRL) for the provision of underground mining services at the Duketon operations in the Goldfields region of WA.The initial 2024 agreement had a term of three years and a mechanism to extend by a further 12-month period on a rolling basis. The latest contract extension will see Barminco deliver services at Duketon until at least March 30, 2029.Perenti managing director and chief executive Mark Norwell comments on the extension.“This extension reflects the strength of our long-standing relationship with Regis and the consistent performance delivered by our team at Duketon,” he said.Perenti contract mining president Gabrielle Iwanow says she is pleased that Regis and Barminco have agreed to extend the alliance at the Duketon operations.“We have a strong working relationship with Regis and the alliance framework provides ongoing planning certainty for both parties, enabling us to continue delivering safe, reliable production,” she said.“Barminco remains committed to working closely with our clients, both locally and globally, to create long-term value.”The extension will not require any new growth capital, according to Perenti.