Category: Headline

Hume Coal’s namesake project in the Southern Highlands of NSW was promoted by the company as “low impact”. By Samantha James UNDERGROUND coal developer Hume Coal said it would not appeal a May decision by the NSW Land and Environment Court blocking the company from drilling on farmland owned by five families from the NSW Southern Highlands. The landowners of five rural properties in Sutton Forrest appealed against a November 2015 decision by the court that allowed Hume prospecting rights on their properties. Chief judge Brian Preston ruled in favour of the landowners and ordered Hume to pay their legal costs. POSCO-owned Hume released a statement detailing its “disappointment” in the decision but said it would not appeal it, electing instead…

A legal dispute between ERO Georgetown Gold Operations and local landholders in northern Queensland saw the miner block the access road to a property near Georgetown in 2013. Image: Queensland Country Life. By Samantha James THE Queensland Government has passed legislation protecting existing farm infrastructure from proposed mining projects and restoring community objection rights to re-establish a “balance between the rights of farmers, miners and the community”. Queensland State Development and Natural Resources and Mines minister Dr Anthony Lynham said the Mineral and Other Legislation Amendment Bill fulfilled two Palaszczuk Government commitments. “The legislation passed today fulfils the government’s commitments to restore community objection rights to proposed mining projects, and to protect key agricultural infrastructure,” he said. “As per our commitments,…

Agricultural engineer and assistant professor at UWA’s School of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering Andrew Guzzomi. By Samantha James RESEARCHERS at the University of Western Australia (UWA) have invented a new rehabilitation technique for large tracts of land such as reclaimed mine sites. The ‘flash flaming’ technique aids in replanting wild seeds by carefully burning off the fluffy appendages that appear on many seeds, which make them difficult to handle and ‘coat’ for large-scale remote restoration. The scientists used Spinifex seeds, the dominant plants of desert grasslands that cover up to 70 per cent of inland Australia, to test the technique’s effectiveness. “Successful large-scale restoration of mine sites relies on the effective use of seeds from wild or native species,” UWA…

The WA 2016-2017 budget provided additional minerals exploration funding however hiked up tenement rental charges to combat a $2.77 million shortfall in budget revenue. By Samantha James THERE is “good and bad news” in the WA State Budget for hundreds of WA-based miners and explorers, according to the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (AMEC).  AMEC called the $30 million investment across 2017-2018 to 2019-2020 in the Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS) “sensible” but an increase in tenement rental charges and the expected increase in land property values for shire rating purposes a “most disappointing” approach. AMEC supported the budget’s $30 million investment in the EIS and co-funded drilling program as a “means to encourage mineral exploration in WA” and “provid significant…

By Cameron Drummond WA companies are prospering off a commodity rebound, with Fortescue Metals Group (FMG), Pilbara Minerals (PLS) and Resolute Mining among a group recording market cap increases. The Deloitte WA Index rose in April with the market capitalisation of WA-listed companies increasing by 9 per cent to $136.2 billion. Deloitte Clients & Markets Partner WA Tim Richards said the index’s performance was boosted by the month’s strong commodity prices. “April’s result, which follows a 5.9 per cent rise in March, was primarily driven by crude oil reaching its highest price in 2016 and iron ore climbing to US$64.50 per tonne at the end of the month,” Mr Richards said. “This spurred on investors, as demonstrated by the market…

By Samantha James RIO Tinto and its joint venture partners have approved the US$5.3 billion underground development at the Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine in Mongolia, which is expected to kick off in mid-2016. The expansion – which would add more than 300,000 tonnes per annum of copper to the producing 175,000tpa open pit mine in the Gobi Desert – was previously expected to cost US$4.9 billion and pay for itself within nine years under a reserve case outlined in 2014. In December 2015 the JV secured an initial US$4.4 billion financing agreement for proposed development however outstanding approvals delayed the final investment decision. Following the grant of all approvals, Rio and its joint venture partners are now aiming for first production…

By Cameron Drummond THE allocation of government funding for mineral exploration and company tax cuts in this year’s Federal Budget has been welcomed by mining industry groups amidst tough economic conditions. The Minerals Council of Australia commended the budget’s strong growth policy and its move to lower company tax rate to 25 per cent for all businesses by 2026. “ balances a careful approach to spending, the maintenance of a strict approach to tax integrity and lays out a medium term plan to promote investment and growth,” Minerals Council chief executive Brendan Pearson said. “The move to a lower company tax cut will, over time, improve the competitiveness of our tax system and promote investment and well-paid jobs, including…

Low iron ore prices and insurmountable debt has forced Arrium into administration. Image: Whyalla News. By Samantha James IN early April, when Arrium asked its lenders – Australia’s four banks, several global banks and US bondholders – for a US$927 million life line to save it from going under, it hardly expected them to reject the package presented by alternative asset manager GSO Capital Partners. The lenders did, however, and pushed the struggling company into administration owing its creditors more than $2.8 billion. Arrium’s 1.2 million tonnes per annum steel plant at Whyalla on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula is bleeding cash in the face of a collapse in steel prices and cheaper Chinese imports. The company also owns smaller plants…

A possible configuration for the combined system proposed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers. By Samantha James RESEARCHERS at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have designed a hybrid system that could boost efficiency of coal-powered plants and simultaneously cut emissions in half. The proposed hybrid system – designed by MIT doctoral student Katherine Ong and Professor Ahmed Ghoniem – could generate as much as twice the fuel-to-electricity efficiency of conventional coal-fired plants.  This would mean a 50 per cent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions for a given amount of power produced. The concept, as described in a paper published in the Journal of Power Sources, combines coal gasification and fuel cells into a single system. The hybrid fuel cell…

Peabody Energy, the world largest private sector coal company, stated that its Australian business would remain unaffected by bankruptcy proceedings. By Reuben Adams PEABODY Energy maintains that its Australian coal business will not be affected by a decision to file for bankruptcy in the US and all operations will continue as normal. Peabody, in a major step to “strengthen liquidity and reduce debt,” voluntarily filed petitions under Chapter 11 for the majority of its US entities in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. The company hoped this process would help reduce its overall debt level, lower fixed charges, improve operating cash flow and “position the company for long-term success, while continuing to operate under the protection of…

Tesla has 325,000 pre-orders for its new Model 3 electric car. Source: Tesla Motors. By Cameron Drummond THE use of lithium in industrial batteries has seen the popularity of the rock-bonded soft metal skyrocket. These batteries out-perform their predecessor, the traditional nickel-metal hydride unit, for use in clean energy technologies such as electric cars and home energy storage. Lithium as an industrial commodity has gone from strength to strength on the back of these exciting technological shifts, most notably through tech-entrepreneur Elon Musk’s Tesla electric-powered cars and home battery storage units. The Tesla Motors (NASDAQ:TSLA) share price enjoyed a steep ascent from a February 2016 low of $185 to $326 on 11 April, when it announced it had received US$1000…