THE Resources Challenge, an initiative aimed at teaching school kids coding and automation skills for jobs in the mining sector, was signed this week and will be implemented in schools in the Pilbara this term. Year 5 and 6 students in 26 primary schools in the region as well as students at Karratha Senior High School and the Port Hedland School of the Air will take part in the program, which has been funded and developed through the Pilbara Collaboration Charter. Signatories to the charter consist of WA Premier Mark McGowan, CME and its members BHP, Chevron Australia, CITIC Pacific Mining, Fortescue Metals Group, Rio Tinto Iron Ore, Roy Hill, Woodside and Yara Pilbara. Chamber of Minerals and Energy of…

The planned shutdown was the largest BHP has undertaken in South Australia.  Image: BHP. BY CAMERON DRUMMOND BHP has announced a $350 million investment to upgrade its Olympic Dam copper smelting operation. Olympic Dam asset president Jacqui McGill said the smelter maintenance campaign was the largest planned shutdown by BHP in South Australia. The smelter campaign involves a combined investment in three key areas; a rebuild of the smelter flash furnace, demolition and construction of a new electric slag furnace; and the removal and replacement of the five-story high electro static precipitator. BHP said it would also use the planned downtime to undertake further refinery asset maintenance. “There will be 1300 contractors at Olympic Dam during the peak of construction…

IN a landmark agreement with Alinta Energy, Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) has announced that up to 100pc of daytime stationary energy requirements at Chichester Hub iron ore operations will be powered by renewable energy. Remaining power requirements will be met through integrated battery storage and gas power station facilities. The Chichester Solar Gas Hybrid project will see the construction of a 60MW solar photovoltaic generation facility at the Chichester Hub (comprising FMG’s Christmas Creek and Cloudbreak mining operations), along with a 60km transmission line linking the mining operations with Alinta Energy’s Newman gas-fired power station plus a 35MW battery facility. Fortescue chief executive officer Elizabeth Gaines said that reliable and competitive energy generation remained an important consideration for the mining…

Fortescue (ASX: FMG) shipped 94.6mt of iron ore in H1 FY24, the second highest first half shipments in the company’s history.  Fortescue’s near-record shipments helped the miner increase its net profit after tax (NPAT) by 41% over the prior corresponding period to $5.04b (US$3.3b).  Fortescue Metals chief executive Dino Otranto says “Fortescue’s performance in the first half of FY24 has been excellent, with the team achieving our second highest first half shipments while maintaining our strong focus on safety and keeping our costs low”.   “This contributed to outstanding financial results, with EBITDA of US$5.9b ($9.01b) and net profit after tax of US$3.3b ($5.04b).  The results follow the first shipment of high–grade magnetite concentrate from Iron Bridge in September 2023.  “Whether…