Record-breaking quake halts operations at NSW gold mine

Anglo American and Teck shareholders have approved the merger of equals to form Anglo Teck.A majority of votes, 99.7%, were cast in favour of the merger resulting in an all-stock, nil-premium $53b transaction.

Albemarle idles WA lithium plant despite price lift Albemarle will idle its Kemerton lithium hydroxide plant in WA despite a recent recovery in prices for the battery metal.Effective immediately, Train 1 will be idled and placed into care and maintenance. Albemarle previously placed Train 2 into care and maintenance in 2024.Albemarle chairman and chief executive Kent Masters said idling operations at Kemerton was a difficult decision.“It follows significant actions we have taken over the past two and a half years to reduce operating costs during an extended period of price volatility in the market,” he said.“Unfortunately, recent lithium price improvements alone are not enough to offset the challenges facing Western hard-rock lithium conversion operations.“This decision improves our financial flexibility and preserves optionality.”Albemarle posted a Q4 net loss of $581m (US$414m), compared to a $105.6m (US$75.3m) net profit in Q4 CY24.The miner did benefit from higher pricing and volumes, with Q4 energy storage net sales increasing 23% to $1.065b (US$759m).

The Queensland Government has declared the proposed $2.3b Eva copper mine a large resource project under the Strong and Sustainable Resource Communities Act 2017.The declaration means, if approved, the project must employ a percentage of its workforce locally and prioritise local procurement, ensuring long-term social and economic benefits for the surrounding Mt Isa and Cloncurry communities.Located 75km north of Cloncurry and 95km northeast of Mount Isa, the Eva project is expected to produce an average of 60,000tpa of copper and 19,000ozpa of gold over a 15?year mine life.Copper concentrate extracted at the project will be processed locally at Glencore’s Mount Isa copper smelter, supporting existing industrial capability in the region.Queensland Deputy Premier and State Development, Infrastructure and Planning Minister Jarrod Bleijie has also extended Eva’s prescribed project declaration, providing additional certainty and streamlined approval pathways.The extension allows the coordinator general an additional two years, until March 25, 2028, to continue providing coordinated support and fast-tracking approvals to keep the project moving.Deputy Premier Bleijie says the Queensland Government is focused on delivering a better lifestyle through a stronger economy, by supporting projects that deliver jobs, investment and long-term regional benefits.“Eva copper has the potential to be Queensland’s biggest copper mine, and we want to ensure the communities closest to the project share directly in its success,” he said.“Declaring Eva copper a large resource project strengthens local employment opportunities, supports regional businesses and ensures long term benefits for Mount Isa and Cloncurry.”The project, owned by Harmony Gold, is anticipated to generate up to 1000 construction jobs and 450 ongoing operational roles, delivering a major boost to the region’s workforce and economy.Cloncurry Mayor Greg Campbell says Eva’s designation as a large resource project would assist local efforts to ensure benefits for the Cloncurry community.“We want to make sure the project not only generates long-term economic benefits throughout our local supply chains but also creates social and community benefits for our residents,” he said.Forecast to inject more than $17b into Queensland’s economy, first copper concentrate is expected to be delivered to the Mount Isa smelter in 2028.Harmony Gold chief development officer Johannes Van Heerden says the company welcomes the Queensland Government decisions.“As a Tier 1 Mining jurisdiction, Queensland offers coordination support and a stable regulatory framework that has helped Eva copper move forward through planning and into construction with certainty,” he said.

Fortescue (ASX: FMG) expects to save US$100m in fossil fuel costs next year as it fast-tracks its delivery of a fully integrated green energy grid. Unlike other large renewable hubs, which feed intermittently into national or other power systems, Fortescue’s off-grid system is expected to be the largest of its kind dedicated to decarbonising major industry. Fortescue anticipates the 290MW of installed renewable capacity to meet the fixed energy requirements of its ore processing facilities, enabling daytime “green processing” across its Pilbara operations, by early 2027. The system is expected to ramp up to power all of Fortescue’s operations for 24-hour periods completely without fossil fuels by the end of 2027 — well ahead of the companies previous Real Zero by 2030 target. Fortescue is expecting full completion of its Pilbara green grid by the end of 2028, which includes 1.2GW of solar capacity, more than 600MW of wind generation and 4-5GWh of battery energy storage. Fortescue says the deployment of its accelerated green grid infrastructure timeline has commenced within its approved decarbonisation budget.  At the completion of its decarbonisation program, Fortescue expects to demonstrate that eliminating fossil fuels is not only achievable but economically superior by achieving a further reduction in C1 unit costs of at least US$2 - 4/wmt. Fortescue sees a clear pathway to expand its green energy system by a further approximately 2GW of power generation capacity, firmed with 4GWh of advanced batteries. This would be enabled by Fortescue’s proprietary know-how, patented technologies and exclusively developed AI, and is expected to be delivered for less than US$2.5b.  The company anticipates this capacity could be progressively delivered over an 18- month timeframe — an unprecedented delivery of firmed energy generation in speed to market, capital costs and operating costs. The company has also marked another major operation milestone with the shipment of its 2.5 billionth tonne of iron ore.