News
Fresh ideas needed to keep tech talent
Miners must band together and present a new vision of the sector as they compete for digital talent with the “cool kids” like Google and Amazon, says BHP’s chief technical officer. “We must lead the way in developing this future workforce. How do we attract and retain these skills from mining engineers to stack developers to industrial engineers and venture capitalists? “We have to talk differently about the work we offer.”
Hancock warns of IR troubles
Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting says billions of dollars in future royalty and tax revenue for the WA economy would be in jeopardy if multi-employer bargaining codes are forced onto the mining sector. Hancock Prospecting chief executive Garry Korte said a six-week period of strike action at Port Hedland would cost $9 billion in lost iron ore export revenue and an estimated $551m in lost mining royalties to the WA Government. “If the Bill were to pass in its current form it would open the door to a confrontational industrial relations system that could cripple our industry and result in poorer wage outcomes for our workers,” he said.
Business community warns Labor’s IR laws will result in 1970s-style strikes and job chaos
“Businesses will carry a much heavier regulatory burden which inevitably leads to less productive workplaces. It is not a long term recipe for wage growth, it is the opposite.” WA’s mining giants including Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting and Rio Tinto have been among the most vocal critics, saying there was no evidence the reforms backed by unions would create real wages growth or boost productivity.
Rinehart warns of ‘heat or eat’ choices as energy costs surge
The speech marked the tenth anniversary of the Hancock Prospecting-instigated National Mining and Related Industries Day. Mrs Rinehart, who rarely gives interviews, is also celebrating 30 years since she returned to Hancock Prospecting as the group’s executive chairman. Hancock Prospecting now makes enormous profits from the Roy Hill iron ore mine developed under Mrs Rinehart’s leadership as well as receiving royalties from Rio Tinto.
Resources fund keeps boom times rolling
That this State has been blessed with a great bounty of natural resources is a wonderful gift. Through flukes of geology and the hard yakka of generations of miners, WA has established itself as one of the world’s strongest economies.
Now it looks like it will help us dodge the turmoil wreaking havoc in other major economies around the world. However, one of the shortcomings of a resources-dependent economy such as ours is its boombust nature. When times are good, money flows and everyone benefits. Hancock Prospecting has committed $100m while Woodside, Chevron and Mineral Resources have chipped in $50m apiece.
MINING GIANTS DIG DEEP FOR WA
Western Australia’s pandemic defying resources boom will be immortalised for future generations through the establishment of a $750 million community investment fund backed entirely by some of the State’s biggest mining companies. Six industry giants have already committed substantial sums of cash to the Resources Community Investment Initiative: Rio Tinto and BHP ($250 million each), Hancock Prospecting ($100m), Woodside ($50m), Chevron ($50m) and Mineral Resources ($50m). Mr McGowan said the idea was sparked around the time of his Government’s $50m commitment to the Aboriginal Cultural Centre — a funding pledge later matched by the Albanese Government before May’s Federal election.
Roy Hill Recognised at Australian Mining Prospect Awards 2022
Roy won the Mine Project Success of the Year Award for the WHIMS Expansion Project (WHIMS 1.5). The pioneering of the Wet High Intensity Magnetic Separator (WHIMS) plant in December 2019 allowed capture of high-grade ultrafine iron ore units which would otherwise have ended up as waste.
Atlas Iron Recognised at Australian Mining Prospect Awards 2022
Atlas won the Indigenous and Community Engagement Award for it’s awarding it’s joint venture mining contract for the Miralga mine to East West Pilbara (EWP) and Ozland in August 2021. Atlas Iron’s General Manager – Projects, Stacey Brown, was recognised with the Project Lead of the Year Award for the Sanjiv Ridge and Miralga hematite iron ore mines, two mines that celebrated first ore at the height of the Covid pandemic on time and on budget.