Fortescue funds $152,000 in Pilbara community grants

LEGISLATION has been passed in Queensland to set up an independent health and safety body for workers in the resources sector from July 1. The new body will be called Resources Safety and Health Queensland (RSHQ) and will regulate the safety and health of workers in the state’s minerals, coal, petroleum and gas, quarry, small scale mining and explosives industries. This puts into action the Safety and Health Queensland Bill 2019, based on recommendations by the Coal Workers’ Pneumoconiosis (CWP) select committee. Queensland Mines minister Anthony Lynham said the new regulator would focus on enhancing safety of the state’s 70,000 resources workers. “It will be totally separate from the government’s broader function of growing and facilitating mining and exploration projects...

NRW said it had strong order book growth prospects.  Image: NRW Holdings. BY CAMERON DRUMMOND MINING services contractor NRW Holdings has decided against an interim dividend, despite the business continuing to “meet or exceed our expectations”, securing contracts and contract extensions across all its businesses. The company almost doubled its yearly revenue to $345.3 million and increased profit from $11.9m to $15.3m. Last year, the company acquired east coast mining services business Golding for $85m, funded by a capital raising and debt facility. Because of this, the company decided to retain its cash balances and not pay an interim dividend to ensure its debt was fully serviced. It has not paid out to shareholders since a fully franked interim dividend...

Gonneville recognised as strategic project by WA Government Chalice Mining’s (ASX: CHN) Gonneville project in WA has been awarded Strategic Project status from the WA Government under WA’s Lead Agency Framework. The Lead Agency Framework was designed to focus the efforts of the government towards projects that need to procced first to deliver on the State’s decarbonisation and economic diversification agenda. Environmental approvals for Gonneville will be subject to assessment through the new Green Energy Assessment Unit. A dedicated team within the WA Department of Water and Environmental Regulation...

Gov needs to do more to promote green explosives, new study finds  A new report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) has found that a government incentive program would accelerate the adoption of green explosives by miners.  Miners consume about half of Australia’s ammonia through explosives and a shift to green explosives could be done with a minimal increase in operating costs.  The IEEFA report found that by switching ammonia production facilities from fossil gas to green hydrogen Australia could lead the world in the production of green ammonia and lay the foundation for a new green hydrogen industry.  IEEFA Australia...