The “Big Australian” has pursued a strategy of only holding mining assets that offer significant scale,are long-life and low-cost. But has it paid off?
Australian copper producer Oz Minerals and diversified miner South32 have both seen their operations held back by COVID-19-induced labour shortages.
There has been a jump in mining activity in areas managed by the parks authority while environment groups also rally against exploration applications by two of the state’s biggest miners.
Alcoa and South32 want to expand mass clearing and strip mining in the northern jarrah forest,which is at risk of collapse according to the International Panel on Climate Change.
The exposure of large super funds to fossil-fuel investments has been revealed for the first time,thanks to new rules that force them to disclose their portfolio holdings.
The Illawarra has the workforce,the industrial and academic know-how and the transport and energy links to be a major player in greener manufacturing.
We will have to wait 25 to 30 years to see steel makers use hydrogen in their blast furnaces instead of coal,says South32 chief executive Graham Kerr.
Weaker coal prices contributed to an 8 per cent dent in South32’s revenue from $3.21 billion to $2.94 billion from July to December 2020.
Plans for a major coal mine extension near Wollongong have been rejected by the NSW Independent Planning Commission,which found the project risked irreversible damage to Sydney’s drinking water.
The Prime Minister fended off calls to phase out fossil fuels,but also ruled out government subsidies for coal mines.
South32,the miner behind a plan to expand coal extraction under Sydney's catchment,says it has offered more than $100 million over the life of the project to compensate for water losses.