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Rio Tinto to power the Pilbara with 80MW solar farm Ngarluma Aboriginal Corporation (NAC) and Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) will develop an 80MW solar farm on Ngarluma Country near Karratha, WA. The project will supply renewable energy to Rio Tinto’s iron ore operations in the Pilbara region and is expected to be located next to Rio Tinto’s Yurralyi Maya power station. This marks an essential step in Rio Tinto’s energy transition. Rio Tinto estimates 600MW to 700MW...

Round two of Pilbara Minerals community grants program opens Round two of Pilbara Minerals’ (ASX: PLS) community grants program has opened with community groups eligible to apply for up to $10,000 in funding. Designed to empower local groups that make a difference in their community, the grants program targets projects and events that will improve access to education, build healthy communities and enable the energy transition. Pilbara Minerals managing director and chief executive Dale Henderson says the company is pleased to continued its annual grants program. “We invited applications for grants of up to $10,000 for community projects that align with our priority investment areas...

SuperGrid cadetships open to high schoolers in remote and regional Queensland The Queensland Government is inviting high school students to apply for a cadetship on Queensland’s SuperGrid. Following a successful pilot across South West Queensland this year, Ergon Energy Network and Energex, in partnership with TAFE Queensland, are expanding the program across regional and remote Queensland in 2025. Through the Ergon Energy Network and Energex 2025 Pre-apprenticeship Program, students will learn from experienced TAFE Queensland trainers and Ergon Energy Network and Energex experts during weekly online workshops and on-campus practical days, complemented by real-world experience...

Liontown secures another key offtake deal Liontown Resources (ASX: LTR) has secured a 10-month offtake agreement with Beijing Sinomine International Trade Co. (BSIT) to purchase ramp-up volumes. The 100,000dmt supply of spodumene concentrate will come from Liontown’s Kathleen Valley lithium project in WA. This agreement is in addition to existing long-term offtake contracts with Tesla, LG Energy Solution and Ford which will be progressively brought into effect over the next 12 months as Liontown ramps-up Kathleen Valley to full-production. Liontown managing director and chief executive Tony Ottaviano says...

$91m injection to power 6 new Australian projects The Federal Government’s Powering the Regions Fund is injecting $91m into six new projects to help cut heavy industry emissions, after its $330m investment into nine projects in April this year. The projects will lower energy use, swap out fossil fuels with cleaner alternatives and cut more than 1mtpa climate pollution, equivalent to...

$798m Vecco project inches closer to development The proposed $798m Vecco critical minerals project in Queensland is one step closer to development after receiving coordinated project status. Queensland’s coordinator general for Vecco has given ‘coordinated project’ declaration to the project, paving the way for multiple environmental approvals from the Queensland and Federal governments. The Vecco project would see an open-cut mine built around 70km north of Julia Creek along with a critical minerals processing plant which would supply minerals for use in the manufacture of rechargeable batteries for grid scale energy. Queensland coordinator general Gerard Coggan commented on the...

Dynamic Metals forms lithium joint venture with MinRes Dynamic Metals (ASX: DYM) and Mineral Resources (ASX: MIN) have formed a lithium-focused joint venture on the Widgiemooltha project in WA. In March this year, Dynamic entered a binding term sheet for a farm-in and joint venture agreement with HoldCo, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mineral Resources. Dynamic holds 60% of the joint venture while HoldCo has the remaining 40% with the ability to increase its stake to 65% by sole funding a further $15m on exploration over four years. HoldCo can earn up to an 80% interest by sole funding expenditure through...

QRC report confirms mining confidence, warns against policy Queensland Resources Council (QRC) member companies are remaining confident about the continued strong demand for the State’s commodities. Despite this, the companies have identified government policy and regulatory uncertainty as the biggest concern for the resources sector. QRC chief executive Janette Hewson says the report shows there is good reason to be optimistic about the future of Queensland’s resources industry. “As the State Election approaches, our message to all political parties is that balanced, stable and consistent policy settings are critical to securing the investment that will ensure the resources sector can continue to underpin Queensland’s...

BHP pauses WA nickel BHP (ASX: BHP) will temporarily suspend WA nickel operations citing the global oversupply of nickel. Despite significant capital investments since FY20, BHP states they have not been able to overcome the sharp decline in nickel prices driven by increased international competition and reduced demand. BHP intends to review the temporary suspension by February 2027. The transition period will commence from July 2024, with operations to be suspended in October and handover activities for temporary suspension completed by December this year. During the transition, BHP...

WesTrac upgrades fluid analysis capabilities A new scheduled oil sampling laboratory established by WesTrac at its Tomago, NSW, headquarters has gone live, giving customers access to industry-leading testing and analysis services. Recently introducing three automated instruments known as AutoLabs, WesTrac has integrated and automated six separate fluid analysis tests, doubling its testing capacity to 1200 fluid samples per day. As well as integrating six testing steps into one instrument, WesTrac has introduced AutoA — an automated interpretation software that releases ‘no action required’ samples without the requirement of manual technician intervention. Each of the AutoLab instruments integrate tools for visual inspection, particle quantification infrared spectrometry, particle counting,...