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The Queensland Resources Council (QRC) says coal royalty legislation which passed through State Parliament yesterday have further damaged the state’s competitiveness. The Bill, which was introduced by the State Government without consultation in May 2023, will force any future decrease in coal royalty taxes to be legislated, making it harder for future governments to make changes. QRC chief executive Janette Hewson says the State Government should focus on getting the right policy settings to secure a pipeline of investment and re-establish the state’s competitiveness. “The State Government’s decision to impose the world’s highest coal royalty tax rates was made without proper industry consultation and they failed to consider the impacts for everyday Queenslanders when introducing this Bill,” she said. “Forcing…

Ahead of planned mine closes by resources giant Glencore, the Queensland Government has approved 10 projects to support almost 500 local jobs in Mount Isa. These projects are being funded via the $20m Mount Isa Transition Fund which includes $14.7m for program delivery costs associated with the projects and $5.3m for the Mount Isa City Council to implement projects identified through its own economic transition strategy. The fund is part of the broader $50m structural adjustment package which also includes $30m to accelerate resources projects in the Northwest Minerals Province. Combined, the 10 projects are expected to create an estimated 483 full-time equivalent construction and ongoing jobs. Queensland Resources and Critical Minerals Minister Scott Stewart commented on the projects. “Mount…

Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King delivered a speech at the Minerals Week 2024 Conference in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, arguing that the Federal Government is especially focused on critical minerals and rare earths industries. “No government in recent memory has put the resources industry at the centre of its policy making in the way that the Government has,” she said. “In June last year, I released the Critical Minerals Strategy, which provided the blueprint for our approach for supporting the industry. “We then updated the critical minerals list and created a new Strategic Materials List of commodities — providing more projects with the potential to access government funding. “We doubled the Critical Minerals Facility to $4b and had the…

Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says he will push through 421 projects that are sitting on the sidelines to bring in $525b for the Australian economy, in his recent address to the Minerals Week 2024 Conference in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. Mr Dutton says this push forward will create a total of 100,000 jobs during the construction phase, along with 55,000 ongoing jobs during operation. Could this hold a glimmer of hope for the Australian mining industry that has lost 8,000 jobs this year from waning nickel and lithium demand, falling iron ore prices and Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek veto’ing the $1b McPhillamys mine following a protracted multi-year approvals process? Mr Dutton calls the current situation facing the nation…

Vault Minerals has been revealed as the name of the Red 5 (ASX: RED) and Silver Lake joint company, with shareholder approval to be sought after at a general meeting on September 25. According to Red 5, the name Vault Minerals was chosen for its significance to the company as a profitable, financially disciplined and returns-focused gold producer. The chemical symbol for gold – Au – is also embedded in the word vault and Red 5 considers this new name embodies its key objective of its long-term strategy of becoming a valuable producer and supplier of gold. The merger was announced in February 2024 with Red 5 to acquire Silver Lake and create a 445kozpa mid-tier gold mining company with…

Up to 70% of the contained gold in electronic waste (e-waste) has been recovered in initial tests of MTM Critical Metals’ (ASX: MTM) flash joule heating (FJH) technology. The FJH technology works by ‘flash’ heating e-waste in a chlorine gas atmosphere, vaporising the target metals such as gold for efficient separation and collection via metal chlorides. This process is highly scalable and environmentally friendly, offering a sustainable and energy efficient alternative to traditional methods of recovering metals from e-waste such as smelting and chemical leaching which are considered energy intensive, environmentally harmful and economically inefficient. E-waste is one of the fastest-growing components of solid waste with over 60mt produced per year, of which only around 20% is recycled. MTM chief…

Two Queensland women have received national recognition for their outstanding contribution to the resources sector at the BHP (ASX: BHP) Women in Resources National Awards. Gold Coast based FIFO engineer, Ashara Moore, and support manager, Kanae Dyas, were honoured at the awards presented by the Minerals Council of Australia. Ashara Moore, who works at BHP’s Saraji mine in Central Queensland, was named the Exceptional Young Woman in Australian Resources. Anglo American’s workplace support manager Kanae Dyas was recognised as the Gender Diversity Champion in Australian Resources. As well as the individual recognition, Anglo American was also awarded a highly commended in the Excellence in Diversity Programs and Performance Award category. Queensland Resources Council (QRC) chief executive Janette Hewson says Ashara…

Aurelia Metals’ (ASX: AMI) Federation critical minerals and high-tech metals mine is opening in NSW, after receiving development consent in 2023 for operations until 2036. The mine will be located near the historical mining town of Cobar, NSW, and will support more than 140 skilled jobs while providing a $143m investment boost to the region. Production for the mine is estimated at 600,000tpa of high-grade zinc, gold, copper and lead. The mine is projected to produce 4.0mt of ore containing approximately 328,000t of zinc, 192,000t of lead, 12,000t of copper, 116,000oz of gold and 772,000oz of silver. NSW Natural Resources Minister Courtney Houssos says the opening of the Federation mine highlights the State Government’s commitment to critical minerals and the…

Local researchers, in partnership with a global miner, are developing new ways to monitor mine waste using drones and ground sensors. Rio Tinto and the University of Queensland are working together to advance mineral waste management solutions with the aim of improving safety and land rehabilitation across mine sites. University of Queensland’s (UQ) School of Civil Engineering lead investigator Dr Thierry Bore says safe management and rehabilitation of mine waste is one of the biggest challenges facing the industry. “Mine waste is currently monitored using expensive and challenging drilling techniques and sometimes the results aren’t accurate,” he said. “We are developing advanced technologies to capture electromagnetic measurements which could tell us what is happening in the soil, rock and water…

Mineral Resources (ASX: MIN) has received approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) for the sale of a 49% interest in the Onslow Iron haul road. The minority stake in the haul road will be sold to investment funds managed by Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners (MSIP) for $1.3b. Proceeds are payable in cash and comprise of an upfront consideration of $1.1b and a deferred consideration of $200m that is subject to achieving a 35mtpa run rate for any quarter before June 30, 2026. Upon receipt of the $1.1b, MinRes will cancel its $1.12b (US$750m) undrawn bridge facility. MinRes managing director Chris Ellison commented on the sale. “Our partnership with Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners will release $1.3b of value from…

Newmont Corporation (ASX: NEM) has agreed to sell the Telfer operation, its 70% interest in the Havieron gold-copper project about 45km away and other related interests in WA’s Paterson region to Greatland Gold plc for up to $475m. London Stock Exchange-listed Greatland Gold discovered Havieron in 2018 and currently has a 30% stake in it, with the company requesting Newmont fix Telfer’s leaky tailings dams as part of the deal. Newmont president and chief executive Tom Palmer this transaction announced represents the first asset sale in the divestiture program announced in February. “I am pleased that Telfer and Havieron are being sold to Greatland, a company with a highly experienced management team and board of directors,” he said. “I have…