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Australia’s largest aluminium smelter faces closure Tomago Aluminium has started consulting more than 1000 workers at its Tomago aluminium smelter in NSW as changing operating economics potentially affect the smelters viability. The Tomago Aluminium venture, controlled by Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO), has been working to identify an economically viable energy solution for when its existing electricity supply contract with AGL expires in December 2028. However, the venture has yet to identify a pathway that supports commercially sustainable operations. As the largest energy consumer in NSW, electricity currently accounts for more than 40% of Tomago Aluminium’s operating costs. Based on market proposals...

Mount Gibson Iron to cut 450 jobs amid mine closure  Mount Gibson Iron (ASX: MGX) will close its Koolan Island mine operations following a significant rockfall.  Production from Koolan Island was previously planned to conclude around September 2026.  Remediating the affected area and resuming mining is not viable given the safety risks and potential future instability, according to Mount Gibson Iron.  Mount Gibson Iron will retain about 75 site personnel for continued processing and rehabilitation activities. The company expects about 250 redundancies and the loss of 200 contractor roles.  Mount Gibson chief executive Peter Kerr comments on the closure.   “It...

Underground workers dead after mine explosion Two workers died after an explosion occurred at an underground mine in Cobar NSW this morning. Emergency services were called to the site, located about 450km east of Broken Hill, at about 3.45am after reports two people had been critically injured in a workplace incident, the NSW Police confirmed in a statement. According to the statement, officers attached to the Central North Police District were told on arrival a man was confirmed dead after the explosion and two women were brought to the surface. One of the survivors has since died and the second woman was airlifted to hospital and is being treated for...

Onslow Iron $200M contingent payment confirmed Mineral Resources (ASX: MIN) will receive a $200m contingent payment from Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners (MSIP) in early November as part of the private haul road transaction.  As announced in September last year, investment funds managed by MSIP paid an upfront consideration of $1.1b for a 49% interest in the Onslow Iron Road Trust, which generates a life-of-mine CPI-adjusted tolling fee per tonne of iron ore loaded at the port from MinRes’ Onslow Iron project in WA.  Between 1 August 2025 and 27 October 2025, 8.75mt of iron ore was...

Rio drives electric fleet trial at Oyu Tolgoi Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) and China’s State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC) Qiyuan have launched a trial of battery swap electric haul truck technology at the copper mine in Mongolia.  The trial is Rio Tinto’s first use of battery swap electric haul trucks in surface mining operations, a major step towards developing the cost-effective technology and operational learnings required to reduce emissions from mining haulage fleets — one of the largest contributors to the company’s Scope 1 and 2 carbon footprint.  Battery swapping technology allows the battery of an...

Larvotto rejects ‘undervalued’ US takeover bid Larvotto Resources (ASX: LRV) has rejected US Antimony Corporation’s (USAC) takeover bid after the board unanimously agreed the offer materially undervalued the company.  USAC lodged the offer, valued at $723m, on October 20 seeking to exchange six shares in USAC for every 100 shares in Larvotto. This would make the value of the deal dependant on daily market performance of USAC shares at the time.  Larvotto Resources non-executive chair Mark Tomlinson says the board is confident that the company’s value and long-term growth potential significantly exceeds the indicative value of the offer.  “With Hillgrove set to become...

Rio launches corruption probe at Oyu Tolgoi Oyu Tolgoi LLC, 66% owned by Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO), has sought support from law enforcement for an internal investigation into allegations of corruption and unethical conduct at the copper operations in Mongolia.   Olyu Tolgoi LLC confirmed an investigation is underway, reaffirming the company’s strict zero-tolerance policy toward corruption and unethical conduct.   Rio Tinto declined to comment.  “We are aware of allegations involving procurement-related activities and conducting a comprehensive internal investigation and have sought cooperation of law enforcement authorities,” Oyu Tolgoi...

Australia leading global energy resources in AECR report The latest Australia’s Energy Commodity Resources (AECR) publication shows the status of Australia’s energy resources against a backdrop of accelerating global decarbonisation, technological innovation and shifting patterns of energy demand and trade. In 2023, global energy demand continued its long-term growth, with primary energy consumption increasing by 2% with fossil fuel consumption accounting for 60% of that increase and experiencing a 4% increase overall, according to the AECR. The AECR, published by Geoscience Australia, shows that in 2023 Australia’s energy exports were more than seven times its imports, with...

Northern Star suffers 20,000oz hit to gold sales  Northern Star (ASX: NST) expects a 20,000oz impact to its Q2 FY26 sales due to operational disruptions at Jundee and South Kalgoorlie early in the quarter.  The miner says the affected volumes will be processed over the remainder of FY26.  In Q1, gold sold totalled 381,000oz with all in sustaining costs of $2,522/oz.  Northern Star has maintained its FY26 guidance of 1.7moz-1.85moz gold sold with all in sustaining costs in the range of $2,300-2,700/oz.  Northern Star managing director Stuart Tonkin says Q1 delivered a mixed performance across the...

RBA uncertain on Australia’s critical minerals future The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has outlined an uncertain outlook for Australia’s critical minerals industry that depends on policy environments and investment levels amidst the global energy transition. The RBA research paper, The global energy transition and critical minerals, reports the magnitude of both long-term global demand projections and Australian production remains subject to considerable uncertainty with global price declines halting production and delaying investment plans such that growth is likely to remain subdued. However, the report found that critical minerals production in...

Rio Tinto seeks to cut Chinalco’s 11% stake Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) is considering an asset-for-equity swap with state-owned Aluminum Corp of China (Chinalco) that would reduce the miner's stake in Rio, Reuters reported, citing three people familiar with the matter. Sources told Reuters that Chinalco would exchange a portion of its holdings for stakes in some of Rio Tinto’s mining assets in a move to free up...