Author: Samantha Bawden

Pilbara Ports breaks records Pilbara Ports has achieved record throughput for the sixth consecutive year with 775.7mt of exports and imports moving through its ports in FY25. This throughput equates to around $153b worth of commodities across the ports of Ashburton, Dampier, Port Hedland and Varanus Island, highlighting the essential role Pilbara Ports plays in the global supply chain and the Australian economy. The Port of Port Hedland contributed 577.7mt to the total, a 1% increase to last financial years performance, securing its position as one of the most important ports in the country....

Rio to advance Chilean lithium Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) has signed a binding agreement with Empresa Nacional de Minería (ENAMI) to form a joint venture lithium project in the Atacama region of Chile. The company was selected as the Salares Altoandinos project’s preferred partner after a competitive negotiation phase with BYD Chile SpA, Eramet Chile SA and POSCO Australia. With the agreement, Rio Tinto has agreed to acquire a controlling 51% stake in the project and will provide up to $425m, in both cash and non-cash contributions, to advance the project. The...

Australia reinforces ties with China In July, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese travelled to Beijing for a weeklong diplomatic trip to attend discussions with China president Xi Jinping. The visit was an opportunity to continue advancing Australia’s security and economic interests. Management of this relationship is crucial for Australia’s future prosperity and for the security of the nation and the region. The centrepiece of the visit were meetings with China’s most senior leaders in Beijing. Prime Minister Albanese held his fourth meeting with President Xi Jinping, met Premier Li Qiang for their third annual...

Liontown celebrates NAIDOC week   From July 6-13, Liontown (ASX: LTR) celebrated NAIDOC week at its Kathleen Valley site in WA with cultural awareness training, knowledge sharing and activities. Liontown has built strong relationships with the Tjiwarl community as the company’s Kathleen Valley operations are situated on Tjiwarl land in a culturally and environmentally significant region. At the company’s office in Perth, Senior Tjiwarl Traditional Owner Kado Muir spoke about the cultural significance of Country and the importance of knowledge sharing for future generations. Liontown...

BHP supports Traditional Owner governance BHP (ASX: BHP) is partnering with the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) to support the development of a First Nations director pipeline with a schoplarship program.   The scholarship program will provide in-classroom board governance education to 250 First Nations executives and aspiring board directors from Traditional Owner groups and Indigenous community organisations in regional locations in South Australia and WA.  The program is designed to engage leaders and support them through education to improve governance and increase their operational capacity to deliver long-term sustainable outcomes for the...

MinRes Air soars to new heights  Mineral Resources (ASX: MIN) has celebrated a full year of operating its internal airline service MinRes Air.   MinRes Air was created to allow for complete flight flexibility and seamless logistics, allowing MinRes to set a new benchmark for transporting people and cargo across operations in the WA mining sector.  With a fleet of modern Airbus A319 and A320’s, the airline now covers frequent routes from Perth, WA and Brisbane, Queensland to various MinRes sites including Ken’s Bore iron ore mine and the...

Rio remains resilient Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) has reported a 13% year-on-year increase in copper production for Q2 CY25, despite price fluctuations amidst rising trade tensions. Driven by strong performance from its copper assets, the company produced 229,000t of copper for the quarter, a 6% year-on-year increase in H1 performance. The economic uncertainty that followed the introduction of US tariffs at the start of the quarter saw copper prices fall before recovering in the second half, driven by US-China de-escalation. Copper production is expected to be at the higher end of guidance following the continued successful ramp up of operations at Oyu...

Mount Gibson Iron moves into gold Mount Gibson Iron (ASX: MGX) has entered a binding agreement to acquire Northern Star Resources’ (ASX: NST) 50% interest in the Central Tanami gold project in the Northern Territory. The Central Tanami project is an equal joint venture with Tanami Gold (TAM) established in 2015, for a cash consideration of $50m. Mount Gibson chief executive Peter Kerr says the acquisition represents a compelling opportunity to enter the gold sector at an attractive price. “Involvement in the Central Tanami gold project provides Mount Gibson with...

Boom Logistics chief executive steps down Boom Logistics managing director and chief executive Ben Pieyre has announced he will leave the company at the end of 2025. Mr Pieyre has served in the role since early 2023 after joining the company in 2019 as general manager of WA and South Australia. Mr Pieyre resigned on July 17, citing the chance to pursue opportunities outside of the crane industry. Prior to his tenure at Boom Logistics, Mr Pieyre served as Sterling Crane company president in Canada and held multiple roles with Freo Group. He is also currently board president of the Crane...

George Fisher leads underground automation Glencore’s George Fisher mine in Queensland continues to pioneer the use of underground automation with its growing automated Sandvik fleet. In 2024, Glencore commissioned three automated Toro TH663i trucks at the site following the successful integration of an automated loader fleet in 2020. The automated loaders and trucks now operate around the clock on separate levels of the mine, successfully improving safety and efficiency at the site. Glencore automation specialist Raukawa Danklof says productivity has also seen major benefits. “Our operations were already efficient but following...

CSIRO accelerating Australia’s energy transition CSIRO has launched the National Energy Analysis Centre (NEAC) to support Australia’s move to net zero. The new research infrastructure will accelerate and de-risk the complex energy transition as an independent, collaborative research centre delivering data-driven insights. NEAC will combine real-world anonymised data from households and businesses with state-of-the-art energy systems modelling, analysis and visualisation tools. This will equip decision makers with a powerful toolkit to steer the nationwide energy transition with greater clarity and coordination. CSIRO energy director Dr Dietmar Tourbier says the new national...