Latest News

Rio Tinto launches its final Beyond Rare Tender Rio Tinto has launched its final Beyond Rare Tender, featuring 52 lots of extremely rare masterpieces of nature, from its Canadian and Australian diamond mines. With Rio Tinto’s Australian Argyle Diamond Mine ceasing operations in November 2020, and the Diavik Diamond Mine in Canada ceasing production in 2026, the final collection of the Art Series pays homage to the life of these iconic mines. The collection, weighing 45.44 carats, is headlined by six ‘Masterpieces’ – diamond sets carefully selected to showcase the pinnacle of production from these two famed mines – together with...

Drilling begins for gold and silver targets at Mt Turner Lightning Minerals (ASX: L1M) has commenced a 1,300m drilling program at its Mt Turner gold project in North Queensland. Phase one of the diamond drilling campaign will target multiple gold and silver deposits beneath existing pits along the Drummer Fault at Mt Turner. Geo Drill Australia has been contracted to complete drilling works at Mt Turner and bring significant experience and expertise to the program. Lightning Minerals managing director Alex Biggs says multiple targets exist across the Mt Turner tenements and this initial program focuses on high priority gold and silver targets. “It’s great to...

Third Queensland coal miner confirms closure QCoal will close one of two underground units at the Cook Colliery in the Bowen Basin, citing increased production costs and royalties. A QCoal spokesman commented on the closure. “Unfortunately, Cook Colliery has been affected by high production costs, high taxes and royalties and low coal prices and its ongoing operation at its current levels is unsustainable,” the spokesperson said. Core Crew, the operator of Cook Colliery, announced that consultation would begin with the workforce today on the future which may result in redundancies and changes to existing positions and roles. Consultation with workers is...

LETA accelerates carbon capture technology Low Emission Technology Australia (LETA) has joined a major international effort to advance carbon capture technology for energy-intensive industries. In partnership with the US Department of Energy and industry leaders, LETA is investing in GTI Energy’s advanced ROTA-CAP technology, an innovation designed to make carbon capture systems smaller, cheaper and more easily scalable for industrial settings. Alongside LETA, the project team includes US Steel, Amrize (formerly Holcim US) and Enbridge. The ROTA-CAP carbon capture technology will be tested at pilot scale at US Steel’s Edgar Thomson facility in Braddock, Pennsylvania. The project aims to assess the technology’s readiness for commercial scale-up and enable wider deployment across the steel,...

Federal Government sets ‘ambitious’ 2035 emissions target The Federal Government has set what it calls an “ambitious but achievable” emissions reduction target of 62–70% below 2005 levels by 2035. The target was released alongside the Federal Government’s Net Zero Plan and supporting documents, including the National Climate Risk Assessment (NCRA). The NCRA showed that 2°C warming would have a disastrous impact on Australia’s economy, health and survival. 2°C will double severe and extreme heatwave events and increase time spent in drought by up to 70%, according to the assessment. The assessment found heat-related mortality would increase by 190% in Sydney,...

Second culling: Anglo American axes coal jobs  Anglo American is cutting more than 200 jobs across its coal operations in central Queensland and its Brisbane head office, according to the Issac Regional Council. The company is Australia's second largest steelmaker, operating five mines across Queensland, including the state’s largest — the Grosvenor underground coal mine. Anglo American Australia people and corporate relations vice president Ben Mansour says the company has undertaken a comprehensive review of its organisational structure to ensure the long-term sustainability of the business. “As part of this review, a small...

Tivan acquires NT critical minerals project Tivan (ASX: TVN) has fully acquired the Molyill project, a tungsten and molybdenum deposit North-East of Alice Springs. Thor Energy (ASX: THR) and joint Molyhill owner Investigator Resources (ASX: IVR) will receive $8.75m over three years from Tivan for 100% ownership over the project. Molyhill is situated next to Tivan’s Sandover fluorite project, also purchased from Thor Energy in November 2024. Molyhill boasts a JORC Code mineral resource estimate of 4.6mt with 12,100t (.26%) of tungsten trioxide, 4400t (.09%) of molybdenum, as well as 2050t (.04%) of copper. The project was exploited in a...

Mental health matters at Mineral Resources In 2024, Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN) became the first resources company in WA to deploy a team of in-house mental health clinicians to its mine sites across the state. Known as Mind Matters, the team includes seven highly qualified clinicians who work on a rotating 4:3 roster on site and in Perth, alongside two Perth-based clinicians. This ensures support is accessible to employees in remote locations as well as those based in the city. The investment encourages open, honest conversations about mental health and enables employees to access professional support at the earliest opportunity. Importantly, the service is provided free of charge for employees and their immediate family members. Now in its second year, Mind...

Anglo American makes $7.5b copper agreement Anglo American and Codelco have entered into a definitive agreement to implement a joint mine plan for their adjacent copper operations, Los Bronces and Andina, in Chile. The joint mine plan has been developed to unlock an additional 2.7mt of copper production over a 21-year period by increasing annual production by 120,000tpa —predicted to generate a pre-tax net present value uplift of at least $7.5b . According to 2024 data, combined production of the projects ranks among the top ten copper mines globally...

Metso acquires Q&R Industrial Hoses Metso has signed an agreement to acquire the privately owned Australian company which specialises in the manufacture of pinch valve sleeves, rubber hoses and other rubber products. This acquisition marks another step in Metso’s commitment to offer comprehensive, end-to-end slurry handling solutions and services for its customers. Following Metso’s valve and process control offering acquisition of Jindex in 2024, the addition of Q&R Industrial Hoses will further enhance Metso’s portfolio. Metso valves and hoses director Christian Trulsson says the company has a long relationship with Q&R, which has served Metso as a critical rubber parts...

BHP cuts 750 Queensland coal jobs BHP (ASX: BHP) and Mitsubishi, as BHP Mitsubishi Alliance’s (BMA), will suspend operations at the jointly owned Saraji South coal mine with the operation being place in care and maintenance in November 2025. The companies attributed the closure to consistently weak metallurgical coal prices and the impact of the Queensland Government’s coal royalties — a scheme introduced in 2022 when coal prices were significantly higher. BMA president Adam Lancey says the Queensland coal industry is approaching a crisis point. “As joint owners of BMA, BHP and Mitsubishi do not want to see operations paused or...