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BlueScope eyes South32’s $2.53b coal deal BlueScope Steel Limited (ASX: BSL) has announced it is considering its option to weigh in on South32 Limited’s (ASX: S32) plan to sell its Illawarra Metallurgical Coal business.  South32 announced yesterday that it had agreed to sell its Illawarra Metallurgical Coal (IMC) business for $2.53b ($US1.65 billion) as the miner presses ahead with its strategy to move away from coal to focus on zinc and copper.   The BHP spinoff agreed to sell the coal business to an entity owned by Golden Energy and Resources (GEAR) and M Resources, building on GEAR’s metallurgical coal holdings in Australia, in the deal expected...

AMEC continues push for Australian production tax credit The Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (AMEC) led a delegation of companies to Canberra as it continues to press the Federal Government for a production tax credit (PTC).   The delegation included representatives from mining and exploration companies crucial to the critical minerals sector, such as Wyloo Metals, IGO, Australian Vanadium, QEM, Pilbara Minerals, and Tesla.   AMEC chief executive Warren Pearce says the meetings provided “an opportunity to relay the real struggles facing the industry at the moment”.   “It also sends a strong message to the Federal Government that the time for action is now.   “The upcoming...

Westgold announces record half year revenue Westgold Resources Limited (ASX: WGX) says its revenue increased by 15% on the previous corresponding period to $363m, a record half year result for the West Australian gold miner.  Westgold also announced its net profit for H1 FY24 came in at $44m, representing a 500% increase on H1 FY23, as gold prices increased 22% on the previous corresponding period.  Although Westgold produced 122,342oz of gold H1 FY24, 5% less than the previous corresponding period, the gold miner says it is on track to achieve its FY24 guidance of 245,000-265,000oz.      Westgold Resources managing director and CEO Wayne Bramwell says “our mines...

South32 exits coal to focus on zinc and copper South32 Limited (ASX: S32) has agreed to sell its Illawarra Metallurgical Coal business for $2.53b ($US1.65 billion) as the miner presses ahead with its strategy to move away from coal to focus on zinc and copper.  The BHP spinoff agreed to sell the coal business to an entity owned by Golden Energy and Resources (GEAR) and M Resources, building on GEAR's metallurgical coal holdings in Australia, in the deal expected to be finalised in H1 FY25.  South32 chief executive Graham Kerr says the deal “will realise significant value for our shareholders and is consistent with our strategy to reshape...

BHP bolsters Oak Dam operations   BHP has significantly bolstered its Oak Dam operations, one of the most significant copper discoveries in recent history, with 12 rigs presently on site and the majority of its 150-person drilling camp now occupied.  The miner has established an integrated copper province in the South Australia’s far north by combining the Prominent Hill and Carrapateena mines with its existing Olympic Dam mine, smelter and refinery, and the Oak Dam exploration prospect.  The so-called “OD Deeps” program has identified extremely high grades of copper deep underneath the Olympic Dam ore body, in some instances of more than 2%, according to the miner.  BHP asset president copper South Australia Anna Wiley says encouraging exploration data at...

South Australia seeks partners for major green iron plans  The South Australian government is planning to establish a hydrogen-based direct reduction iron (DRI) plant in the state by the end of the decade and is seeking partners to get the project off the ground. South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas announced that an expressions of interest process would commence in June, seeking involvement from businesses to jointly investigate the development of a hydrogen-based DRI plant in South Australia. “The world needs steel, and as it seeks to decarbonise, it will increasingly need green iron and steel,” he said.  “We have the key ingredients for a DRI plant in the Upper Spencer Gulf – an unrivalled resource of magnetite, and soon, a...

Australia’s first vanadium flow battery manufacturing supply chain  Industry leaders have signed a deal to establish Australia’s first vanadium flow battery manufacturing supply chain in Queensland.   Idemitsu Australia, Sumitomo Electric Industries and Vecco Group signed a collaboration agreement to build a complete manufacturing supply chain, from mining to energy storage, expected to be operational in 2026.  Under this non-exclusive agreement, Idemitsu plans to market, sell and deliver vanadium flow batteries to Australian customers using Sumitomo Electric hardware and Vecco’s electrolyte made from vanadium mined in Queensland’s north west minerals province.   Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. general manager of energy systems division Mr Kamada says “we are very pleased...

Abbot Point Operations celebrates 40 years of safe ship loading at NQXT Abbot Point Operations (APO) is celebrating four decades of safe and responsible operations at the North Queensland Export Terminal, Australia’s most northern deepwater export port. It was this week in 1984 when the Fukukawa Maru arrived at the Terminal, located north of Bowen in Queensland, to load 60,000 tonnes of coking coal from the Collinsville mine, destined for Hong Kong. Yesterday the BBG Liuzhou was the 6,902nd ship to safely berth at the Terminal and load high-quality coal from Bowen or Galilee basin mines for export to the...

$20m fund aims to kickstart new jobs in Mount Isa The Queensland Government has allocated $20m to address the loss of up to 1,200 jobs after Glencore announced the closures of its underground copper mine and copper concentrator and the nearby Lady Loretta zinc mine. The fund, part of a $50m support package for Mount Isa, will focus on projects that can start up quickly to create jobs and enhance Mount Isa’s attractiveness as a place to live and work.  The package also includes up to $30m to accelerate resources projects in the North West Minerals Province, led by Queensland Treasury and the state's department of resources.  Queensland State...

First vanadium pentoxide from QLD industrial waste: QEM and UQ collab QEM (ASX: QEM) and The University of Queensland (UQ) have teamed up to produce the first high-purity vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) from an industrial waste stream in Australia. In June last year, QEM announced an agreement with Incitec Pivot Limited (ASX: IPL) to collect vanadium-bearing spent catalyst from IPL’s Mount Isa sulphuric acid plant and process this waste into high-purity vanadium pentoxide (V2O5), an essential component of the electrolyte used in vanadium flow batteries. QEM also entered a similar agreement with Sun Metals Corporation Pty Ltd’s Townsville zinc refinery in March last year. Currently the spent catalyst removed...

Mineral Resources says diversification key to revenue increase Mineral Resources (MinRes) (ASX: MIN) has announced its financial results for H1 FY24, reporting strong operational performance across all businesses.  The miner says revenue was up 7% to $2.51b, with underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of $674m.  A diversified business model was key to the solid financial results, despite weaker lithium prices, according to the miner. ?  MinRes managing director Chris Ellison says “incredible progress was made on Onslow Iron over the half”.   “We currently have more than 2,000 people working on the project, with first ore-on-ship on target for June 2024,” he said.  “Our unique ‘build, own,...