Category: Mines and Quarry

BHP has marked a new milestone in their coal sector expansion as BMA opened the new third berth at the Hay Point coal export terminal yesterday.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk attended the official opening ceremony with BHP coal president Mike Henry and Mitsubishi Corporation COO for the mineral resources investment division Rick Tanaka.

The premier said coal exports had reached a record 219 million tonnes last financial year thanks to such investments.

“I want to thank BHP Billiton and Mitsubishi for their confidence in the Queensland coal export market and their contribution to the Queensland economy, despite coal prices having declined markedly in recent years,” she said.

Hay Point has been in operation since 1971, and the $US3 billion third berth and ship loader has been under construction since 2011.

At peak construction in 2014 the project employed 1630 people, with more than 12.6 million hours worked.

The new infrastructure has increased the Hay Point Coal Terminal capacity from 44 million to 55 million tonnes per annum.

Mike Henry said the recently completed terminal project reflected BHP Billiton’s confidence in the long-term outlook for metallurgical coal.

“BMA is the world’s largest exporter of seaborne metallurgical coal and employs 9,000 Queenslanders. The opening of the HPX3 project is a significant milestone,” he said.

“Importantly, the increased capacity at HPX3 will enhance our ability to run an even more productive value chain.

“Through its design features, the project has also improved the Port’s ability to withstand significant weather events, improving the resilience of the BMA business and enhancing customer confidence in the reliability of supply from BMA and Queensland.”

Stanmore Coal is edging closer to re-opening the Isaac Plains mine near Moranbah, with 150 job opportunities soon to come for local workers.

With the opening scheduled for February 2016, Stanmore Coal has not specified whether the mine will require FIFO workers.

Isaac Plains was put into care and maintenance by joint owners Vale and Sumitomo in September 2014, when 300 workers lost their jobs.

Isaac Plains will be opened at a reduced capacity of 1.1 million tonnes per annum, compared to the 2014 output of more than 2 million tonnes per annum.

Stanmore bought Isaac Plains for a peppercorn fee of $1 earlier this year, under agreement to take on contractual obligations including $32 million worth of mine rehabilitation.

In 2011 Sumitomo paid $430 million for Aquila’s 50 per cent stake in the mine, in expectation of good returns, however it accepted the loss at the mine’s closure as am $11 million writedown on its other Australian investments.

Isaac Plains will have a three year lifespan, however Stanmore have plans to open a new operation called Isaac Plains East.

Nickel, copper, and zinc have been picked as the metals to watch next year.

A new report by Morgan Stanley analysts have labelled the metals, which saw steady slumps throughout 2015, as the top picks, according to Bloomberg.

We are stubborn nickel bulls in 2016,” the report stated.

They forecast a nickel average of $10,692 per tonne next year, zinc at $1747 a ton and copper at $5236 a ton.

Speaking to ANZ senior commodities strategist, Daniel Hynes, he told Australian Mining the outlook for base metals into next year is positive.

“The outlook is better…the oversupply is not as bad as the bulk markets [such as iron ore],” he said.

“We’ve seen the start of a readjustment in base metal supply, but the market has not been that interested to date.

“They’ve been lost amongst the noise [of coal and iron ore], but the fundamentals are better, and for nickel and zinc we expect a market in deficit next year, but as always the poster price depends on Chinese demand.”

Morgan Stanley stated that it continues “to see only a modest abatement in China-led commodity demand growth, not the capitulation that year-to-date price performances imply”.

“The fact that economic activity everywhere remains buoyant, commodity-trade flows are intact, and that producers are rapidly rebalancing their trades in reply to shock-low prices tells us that downside price risk is limited.”

Credit Suisse has also backed nickel, expecting a dearth of the metal as operators will be cutting supply “given the scale of losses that producers are incurring”.

Cut to Size Plastics presents an internationally proven range of hard-wearing cast polyamide engineering plastics from its Wearlon family, formulated to reduce wear and maintenance and enhance safety in a wide range of machinery and industrial equipment.
LiNNOTAM cast polyamides from international manufacturer and fabricator of engineering plastics Licharz are part of the Wearlon range of engineered plastics suitable for OEM use and metal replacement in applications involving transmission of mechanical force and minimising friction. The Wearlon range of engineered plastics benefits a wide range of applications including cranes and lifting equipment, materials handling machinery such as conveyors as well as fixed and mobile plant extending from mineral processing equipment and power generation technology through to mining draglines, heavy transport, implements, construction equipment, food processing equipment, and primary product processing equipment for timber and paper.
Available in various grades for different purposes, Wearlon LiNNOTAM metal-replacement materials not only offer a long service life but can also be easily machined to custom-fabricated shapes. Cut to Size manufactures components such as sheaves, rollers, gears and wear components for applications across Australasia at its Sydney head office, which is equipped with CNC machining facilities coupled with GibbsCAM and Solidworks software.
Cut to Size NSW Manager Mr Pat Flood explains that steel wire ropes are important and highly stressed machine elements in force transmission and conveying technology with large plants relying on their performance not only for efficiency but also safety. Wearlon can extend their lifespan and enhance safety by reducing maintenance and preserving structural integrity for longer.
Wearlon engineering plastics offer several benefits including rope-conserving elasticity; compression fatigue strength; high wear resistance; toughness also at low temperatures; resistance to lubricants; and high resistance to weathering effects.
According to Mr Flood, wire ropes are stressed by fluctuating forces, wear, corrosion and extreme forces. Ropes that run over sheaves made from metallic materials are subject to high stress due to the surface pressure occurring between the rope and the groove. When the rope rolls over the sheave, only the outer strands lie on the groove, resulting in wear in the form of individual strands breaking or, more serious rope breakage.
However, sheaves made from Wearlon engineered plastics prevent wear on steel wire ropes thanks to their elasticity. The pressure between the rope and the roller in the combination steel rope/polyamide roller is around 1:10 compared to steel rope/steel roller, which can be attributed to the visco-elastic behaviour of polyamide. It is not just the outer strands that lie in the groove, but almost the whole projected strand width, reducing surface pressure between the rope and the roller and considerably extending the life of the rope.
The cast polyamides of the LiNNOTAM members of the Wearlon family can be produced as semi-finished products or near net shape components and are virtually free of internal stress. Cut to Size offers a large selection of shapes, weights and dimensions.

Struggling miner BC Iron has announced a temporary halt to production at the Nullagine Joint Venture (NJV).

Citing the continued decline of the price of iron ore, BC announced to the market last week that it was not in the best interests of the shareholders to for NJV to continue in its current form.

The tough decision will see 25 per cent FMG joint venture suspended progressively over December and January, with exports completed during January.

It has been suggested that BC will sell its unprocessed 11 million wet metric tonne stockpile to FMG under a mine gate sale arrangement, albeit at a reduced rate.

Managing director Morgan Ball said BC was a “price taker” and that despite successful cost reductions by staff and contractors the market had forced this unfortunate decision.

“I would like to thank our joint venture partner, Fortescue, for their strong contribution to the success of the NJV over the last five years of operations and also the West Australian Government for its willingness to work with and support the resources industry,” he said.

“Most importantly, I thank all of our committed employees and contractors who have worked so hard to build the NJV to a 6Mtpa operation and worked even harder again during the last 18 months to maintain BC Iron’s competitive position in a very challenging market.”

Production crews at the Bootu Creek manganese mine have been laid off as the mine is placed into care and maintenance.

Around 45 workers have lost their jobs at the Northern Territory mine, which was staffed by 200 people, mostly FIFO workers.

The redundancies were reported to the ABC by an anonymous worker, who said staff were informed last Friday the mine would be placed into care and maintenance.

It is expected other OM Manganese operations will conclude once stockpiles have been exhausted.

OM Holdings stock prices have dropped from $0.29c in June to the current price of $0.10c.

The company has not announced the closure to the ASX, with the most recent investor presentation given at the International Ferro-alloys Conference in November showing OM Holdings was focussed on the OM Sarawak smelting plant in Malaysia

Earlier in the week the BHP spinoff company South32 announced plans to lay off more than 400 workers from manganese operations in South Africa.

Prices for manganese, a key steel-making ingredient, have continued to slump since the announcement of plans for the South32 demerger in August 2014.

Investors have been left holding the bag by BHP as South32 shares have faltered dramatically since the company launch, trailing from around $2.37 in May down to close at a record low of $1.01 yesterday.

Thiess have been awarded a four year contract extension for work at Energy Resources’ Mongolian Ukhaa Khudag coal mine.

It is understood that it will provide up to $1 billion worth of revenue for the company over the next seven years.

This latest agreement builds upon an existing eight year agreement for work at the site which includes fleet operation and maintenance for overburden stripping, coal mining and blast drilling under an alliance structure, with involvement in mine planning and health, safety and environmental management.

CEO of Thiess parent company CIMIC, Marcelino Fernandez Verdes, said this new extension builds upon the working relationship created over close to a decade.

Thiess managing director Michael Wright said the extension at UHG coal mine is a testament to its performance at the mine since work started in 2008.

“We are delighted to extend our partnership with Energy Resources LLC and to continue our focus on delivering cost efficiencies and innovation at the UHG mine. It is the quality of our people, and their commitment to safety and operational efficiencies that drive value for our client Energy Resources,” Wright said.

This win comes only a few days after Thiess won a $760 million contract to continue to operate Glencore’s Mt Owen coal mine.

Two of the world’s largest wire rope manufacturers – Bridon and Bekaert – have announced plans to merge.

Bekaert and Bridon’s owner Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP), have reached an agreement to establish Bridon Bekaert Ropes Group, with Bekaert holding a 67 share in the business and OTPP the remainder.

The new business is predicted to generate around 600 million Euro in business annually.

“The new group will combine the ropes and advanced cords capabilities of almost 3 000 employees, 19 manufacturing entities across 11 countries, market-focused R&D, and a global sales and service network,” Bekaert explained.

“The intended combination will leverage the scale and complementary strengths of Bekaert and Bridon and will pursue value creation for customers and for the new group.

“Bekaert is contributing its advanced cords business and a well-established ropes presence in Latin America, Canada and Australia.”

The merger will also look at new growth opportunities in Asia, Bridon stated.

The transaction will have a cash-neutral impact on the two businesses, with the agreement set to be finalised in the first half of next year, however until that point the two businesses will continue to operate separately.

The fate of close to 800 workers’ jobs is waiting on news on whether Clive Palmer’s Yabulu nickel refinery will collapse.

The future of the refinery, and its 776 workers, was yesterday put in doubt after Palmer lost a court bid to force his estranged Sino Iron business partner CITIC to provide US$48 million in ‘unpaid royalties’ relating to the West Australian Sino Iron ore project.

This is the latest round of legal back and forth between the two entities, however it is breaking point for Palmer as he claims the outstanding royalties are needed to keep his Townsville Yabulu nickel refinery operational, stating that the business may now enter administration if funds aren’t forthcoming.

Palmer claimed his Queensland nickel business would suffer “irreparable harm” if the funds weren’t available.

Despite this, the presiding judge, Justice Paul Tottle, dismissed Palmer’s request for access to the funding, stating the court was prepared to accept the risk that the nickel refinery could fold.

He went on to say that evidence exists that a bank loan could be sought, but that “the avenues of finance that the bank was prepared to consider do not appear to have been pursued”.

CITIC also stated that Palmer had more funds than he was willing to admit, and he could support the continued operation of the nickel refinery, with its lawyer saying it defied belief that Yabulu would go under unless money was immediately handed over.

Unions have raised concerns for the workers as their future remains uncertain.

“We’ve all heard the rumours, the town’s alive with them,” local AWU spokesperson Cowboy Stockham told ABC Radio.

“I just want to hear from the horse’s mouth what’s going on and, you know, just where to from here.”

Despite the denial of funding for the Yabulu nickel refinery, CITIC said its thought were for the now uncertain workers.

“Our commercial relationship is with Mineralogy alone,” a CITIC spokesperson told news.com.

“How Mr Palmer chooses to spend this money and how he chooses to manage his other ventures — whether it be golf courses, nickel mines, soccer teams, the Titanic 2 or robotic dinosaurs — is a matter for him.”

These back and forth court battles have gone on since 2012, and relate to claims of unpaid royalties and misappropriation of funds, and has seen heated arguments in public and mining rights being terminated.

The project initially saw serious delays and was unable to meet a range of pre-arranged targets and royalty payments, with CITIC stating at the time that the lack of Australian experience for its Chinese lead contractor MCC was partly to blame for the delays and,

The relationship between Palmer’s Mineralogy and CITIC Pacific took another turn over the issue of mining royalties.

This series of events prompted Palmer to try and pull out of the agreement, in which he owned the land and gave CITIC Pacific mining right, until Mineralogy was awarded royalties.

However this was vetoed by the WA Supreme Court.

The issue of royalties again reared its head after Palmer claimed the Chinese miner was finally paying him royalties, to the tune of $500 million.

“We have a standard right-to-mine agreement,” Palmer said at the time.

“In the agreement it says they pay a royalty when ore is taken. We would say that word ‘taken’ means when you mine it — they would say it means when you take it from Australia.”

The focus of this ongoing battle between the two companies then turned to the control of Cape Preston and control of the rights to the land.

It then shifted once more to agreed upon royalties, once again, as the iron ore price plummeted to below US$40, bringing down the return on royalties.

Since these initial blowouts disagreements have flared between CITIC and Palmer’s company, with the Australian billionaire famously accusing the Chinese firm of ‘raping’ Australian resources, and then filing numerous court applications to force CITIC into liquidation.

The two have also fought civil cases against one another, claiming both have engaged in corrupt business practices.

今日，天津港口铁矿石交割价格为38.9美元。

中国需求疲软和铁矿石商Roy Hill再次扩大生产是导致铁矿石价格下滑的原因。上两个月中，铁矿石从每吨55美元下跌至40美元以下，标志着大多数生产商将无力继续运营。甚至在铁矿石巨头中，仅有力拓和必和必拓任由盈利空间，而淡水河谷和Fortescue(FMG)都处于盈亏平衡生产状态。

不少分析师认为，铁矿石将在明年2月跌至30美元每吨。