Westgold builds cash despite softer production

Viva Energy’s (ASX: VEA) Geelong refinery will operate at reduced capacity in the short term following a fire last week, with diesel, jet fuel and petrol production all impacted. Diesel and jet fuel output will run at around 80% capacity, while petrol output will run at around 60%.The company says it has sufficient fuel stocks to cover the reduced production and expects to maintain normal fuel supply. “The Geelong refinery does not typically source Middle Eastern crude, with current crude sourced predominantly from North and South America, Southeast Asia, and Australia,” the company said. “These crude supply flows have not been impacted, and the Geelong refinery has firm crude supply through to July with high confidence that this supply can continue.” Viva Energy’s fuel sourcing has continued without interruption, supported by import cargo commitments through to the end of May. The company has also entered into an agreement with the Federal Government to purchase additional cargoes beyond its normal requirements. Viva Energy says the fire occurred in the alkylation unit which forms part of the gasoline complex. The other major processing units at the refinery, including the crude distillation units, reformer and residue catalytic cracking unit (RCCU) are unaffected, but the RCCU is offline while operations are stabilised. The company expects to be in a position to restart the RCCU and lift production of diesel, jet fuel and petrol to more than 90% of capacity in the next few weeks.  

Fortescue (ASX: FMG) has significantly boosted its green energy spend to fast-track the delivery of its Pilbara green energy grid as the company finishes Q3 with a cash balance of $5.89b .During Q3, Fortescue shipped 48.4mt of iron ore, a 5% year-on-year increase, bringing the total volume for FY26 so far to a record high of 148.7mt, despite major weather disruptions impacting production at its Iron Bridge operations and lower realised hematite prices.Hematite C1 unit costs were 4% lower than the previous quarter, contributing to an average unit cost of US$18.52/wmt for the first three quarters of FY26.The company finished the quarter with a net debt of $2.24b after recording a capital expenditure of about $1.28b and a payout of $1.82b in interim dividends.Fortescue also confirmed its board had approved an additional $954m spend on top of the already approved $8.7b , to develop new green energy infrastructure to meet growing industry power demands, largely driven by data centres.Fortescue metals and operations chief executive Dino Otranto says the company is already seeing the benefits of decarbonising its operations.“Given volatility in global energy markets, there’s never been a clearer reason why this matters,” he said.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 executive chairman Andrew Forrest says the company is already demonstrating in the Pilbara that heavy industry can operate on a fully integrated renewable grid.“We are now extending this model to new customers, particularly data centres, helping meet one of the fastest growing sources of demand in the world,” he said.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.During the quarter, Fortescue also completed its acquisition of Alta Copper, making its official move into the copper industry as it took over ownership of the Cañariaco copper project in Northern Peru.

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).