Brookfield's comeuppance no cause for health policy complacency
The collapse of Healthscope into receivership is quite the embarrassing comeuppance for one of the masters of the global private equity universe. Events have proven there were two things wrong with Canadian investment giant Brookfield Asset Management's $5.7 billion purchase of Australia's second-largest private hospital group in 2019.
First, Brookfield has been caught out by taking on too much debt to buy Healthscope's national network of 37 hospitals. Second, the strategy of selling and then re-leasing 22 facilities left Brookfield paying too much rent, as its business model was challenged by structural changes in the health sector.
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West Australian
4 hours ago
- West Australian
Australian news and politics live: Greens Leader Larissa Waters responds after Dorinda Cox joins Labor
Scroll down for the latest news and updates. The Prime Minister has confirmed publicly he is seeking to meet with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G7 meeting in Canada later this month. Canadian leader Mark Carney invited Anthony Albanese to attend the meeting of global leaders when they spoke shortly after the May 3 election. Mr Albanese confirmed on Tuesday the widely speculated meeting with Mr Trump was being organised to take place in Alberta rather than Washington.. 'That's what we hope to do there,' he told ABC Perth. He said his approach in dealing with Mr Trump was to be 'consistent and clear and unambiguous'. 'That is what I've been. I've had three really constructive discussions with President Trump, but it's important that you don't jump around and take different positions from day to day,' he said. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is on ABC Perth talking about Dorinda Cox and the North West Shelf. He says Senator Cox had decided after much thought that her values aligned more closely with those of Labor rather than the Greens, leading to her defection. 'We know that the Greens have lost their way,' Mr Albanese said. 'That's one of the reasons why they lost three of their four seats in the House of Representatives, and the domination of issues that certainly aren't environmental have been their concerns.' Asked how someone who has so stridently spoken out against the extension of the North West Shelf project can now be on board with Labor, Mr Ablanese points out the Greens including Senator Cox voted for the safeguard mechanism as the primary way to cut emissions. 'The North West Shelf, like other projects right around Australia, the top 200 emitters, are all subject to that (safeguard mechanism) that requires emissions to be brought down each and every year or to be offset as part of getting to net zero,' he said. 'We have not just a policy of net zero. We have a plan to get there… You can't change the way that the economy functions through just good will or good thoughts.' Having worked as a delivery driver at Pizza Hut, as a cleaner, in a newsagency and at a call centre, Sally McManus used to depend on an award wage. Now, the 53-year-old firebrand leading Australia's top union body is calling for a 4.5 per cent pay rise for nearly 3 million workers who live pay-to-pay on an industry award or minimum wage. The Fair Work Commission will on Tuesday release its annual wage review decision. Ms McManus says it's essential the nation's lowest-paid workers receive a pay rise above inflation. 'It's about whether you can keep up with your bills or not, it's whether or not your life gets slightly better, whether it stays the same or whether it goes backwards. It's everything,' she tells AAP. 'When you're on those wages, you're not saving money. Everything you earn, you spend.' Read the full story here. With two Aboriginal women now having left the Greens, the party is facing questions about its representation and approach to First Nations issues. 'I think there's two very different reasons why those strong First Nations women made the decisions they made. It was definitely their call to make,' she told ABC News Breakfast. 'Senator Thorpe has gone on to be a really strong voice in the Parliament and I'm sure Senator Cox will continue to work for the issues that are meaningful for her,' Waters explained. 'But the Greens remain entirely committed to strong advocacy on truth telling, on treaties, on justice, on healing, on reparations. Our policies are still very firm for First Nations justice and we won't be changing course in that regard.' Read the full story here. The Greens are reeling after WA Senator Dorinda Cox announced her move to Labor, but party leader Larissa Waters says there's no animosity and wishes her well. 'Dorinda spoke for herself yesterday and said her values aligned more closely with the Labor Party. And people need to have values fit with the party they seek to represent,' she told ABC News Breakfast. 'Dorinda called me an hour before her press conference with the Prime Minister. And we had a very calm and measured conversation about it. And I did genuinely wish her all the best. 'There's no animosity there. It's disappointing for us to lose a Greens senator. But Dorinda says her values lie there. You need to be true to yourself, don't you?' Read about Dorinda Cox's surprise move here. Mental ill health and poor father-son relationships have been revealed as key factors that could contribute to men's violence against women. A longitudinal study conducted by the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) surveyed men and boys in 2013/14 and again in 2022 for critical insights into factors influencing the use of violence. The research has produced the first national estimate of male intimate partner violence perpetration, with the 2022 study finding more than one-in-three Australian men aged 18 to 65 have used intimate partner violence in their lifetime. This is up from one-in-four men who reported ever having used intimate partner violence among the same cohort surveyed in 2014. The latest study also found an estimated 120,000 men nationally were starting to use violence for the first time each year. Read the full story here.
West Australian
18 hours ago
- West Australian
Lithium Universe on spodumene hunt to feed Canadian lithium refinery
Lithium Universe is on the hunt for a minimum 10 years' worth of spodumene supply from local producers to feed its future Bécancour Canadian lithium refinery. The company expects to kick-start the conversion of the battery mineral into battery-grade lithium carbonate at the refinery in 2028. The company is targeting a non-binding agreement to source the large supply to appease financiers and help lock in its required project finance, having reached a final investment decision earlier this year for the project to begin kicking into gear. Initially it plans to source 56,000 tonnes of SC6-grade spodumene material, comprising 6 per cent lithium oxide, to fire up its conversion facility in 2028. That will increase to 98,000t in 2029 and reach the refinery's full capacity of 140,000t from 2030 onwards. Lithium Universe will seek the feedstock material preferably from local Canadian producers or near-term developers, otherwise it may look to procure its required supply from a producer within the North Atlantic region, including Brazil and Africa. Sourcing local material presents obvious logistical advantages, particularly significant savings in transport costs and potential tariffs imposed by the Canadian government on export material from countries including China. Lithium Universe says many producers see the benefits in dealing with a local converter. Savings of US$100 (A$155) per dry metric tonne of spodumene could equate to a reduction of about US$800/t in converted lithium carbonate product costs. Canada charges a 25 per cent import tariff on all Chinese lithium chemicals brought into the country, so local conversion of the battery mineral could represent significant savings to end-users. Under the company's recently revealed definitive feasibility study, it proposes pumping out an impressive 18,270t of battery-grade lithium carbonate when its processing operations have fully hit their stride by 2030. Production will support the expansion of Canada's electric vehicle and energy storage industries. Lithium Universe plans to purchase the spodumene feedstock from the market at benchmark prices and retain full ownership of lithium carbonate converted product. It intends to sell on the open market or directly to an original equipment manufacturer, which ideally it hopes to source as an investor into the project in exchange for an offtake supply of the battery ingredient. It is not looking to toll treat any spodumene material. Management says its mission is to close what it terms the 'lithium conversion gap', where an expected 20-plus major manufacturers plan to deploy 1000 gigawatts of battery capacity by 2028, with demand for 850,000t of converted lithium product. It anticipates only a potential 100,000t of lithium carbonate hard rock converters will be constructed by that timeframe. The Bécancour refinery will implement a smaller, off-the-shelf model refinery in preference to larger, more difficult-to-operate plants. Its initial focus will be on producing lithium carbonate to feed the lithium-iron-phosphate batteries used in electric vehicles. Lithium Universe's board approved a final investment decision on the Bécancour lithium refinery after its completed definitive feasibility study delivered a net present value of US$718M (A$1.109 billion). Based on the study results, it will aim to secure US$549M (A$848M) in funding to construct the facility. Lithium Universe expects to generate an EBITDA of US$148M (A$228.5M) from an annual revenue of US$383M (A$592M) over a 3.9-year payback based on the study's price assumptions. The assumptions are higher than current lithium spot prices. The company says the refinery will generate a 21 per cent internal rate of return, based on forecast prices of US$1170 (A$1807) per tonne of spodumene concentrate consisting of 6 per cent lithium content and US$20,970/t of lithium carbonate. Actual spot prices for battery-grade lithium carbonate hover near US$7500/t. The break-even cost is estimated at US$14,000/t for lithium carbonate on the expectation it will produce 18,270 tonnes per annum of battery-grade lithium carbonate. With expectations that lithium pricing will improve in the coming 12-18 months as the supply and demand balance improves, management believes its financial modelling shows the company has a compelling and economically viable project on its hands. If the management team can lock in the bucketload of spodumene it requires to convince project financiers to back it and jump on board, the project could be on its path to playing an important part in the Canadian electric vehicle battery market's future. Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact:
West Australian
a day ago
- West Australian
EV Resources to rope in up to US$6 million from Peruvian gold sale
EV Resources has sold its Yanamina gold and silver project in Peru to Canadian-listed firm Daura Gold, potentially earning up to US$6 million (A$9.29M). EV will be paid $150,000 upfront and receive a further $5.85M if agreed milestones are met. The project was acquired by EV in 2019 for US$100,000, plus a series of deferred payments on achieving milestones and a 1 per cent net smelter royalty. It was sold as part of the company's rationalisation process of disposing of non-core assets. EV's board recently determined to reduce its expansive portfolio of promising projects. The company also recently sold its Coyote Creek antimony project in the US state of Utah, which EV acquired in April for less than $150,000 in cash and company shares. The Coyote Creek sale to ASX-listed Trigg Minerals for a combination of cash and shares worth $450,000 yielded EV a quick profit and bolstered its financial position with additional cash while lowering its expenditure requirement. Yanamina's disposal will further boost EV's cash holdings and place it in an enviable position to focus on its core projects in the Americas. Upon completion of the sale, EV will receive US$150,000 from Daura Gold, which will also pay the project's 2024 licence fees due by June 30. If agreed milestones are achieved, EV will be eligible to receive additional payments of US$150,000 one year after the sale is completed and US$1.7M in cash or Daura shares when Daura obtains a social licence from local communities to begin exploration work on the project. The licence must include an allowance for a minimum 10,000 metres of drilling at the site. Within 60 days of starting to build commercial production infrastructure on site, EV will receive US$2M in cash or Daura shares, followed by a further US$2M in cash or Daura shares within 60 days of Daura beginning commercial production at the project. Daura can also elect to issue company shares in lieu of cash in each instance where payment is required. The shares would be issued at a deemed price equivalent to the 30-day volume-weighted average price on the Canadian TSX-Venture exchange, calculated using the Bank of Canada's applicable exchange rate immediately prior to issuance. Notably, if Daura elects to issue its company shares when each agreed payment stage is triggered, EV will retain exposure to the project and its potential upside. That wouldn't be a bad outcome, considering the gold price is still at turbocharged levels, fetching a phenomenal US$3305 (A$5126) per ounce gold. Daura will assume responsibility for all production obligations agreed to by EV when it secured the project from the previous vendor, private company Happy Diamonds. Management says it remains committed to its Americas-focused antimony strategy, which includes open pit mining opportunities, its Trigg shareholding and its proposed acquisition of 70 per cent of the Los Lirios open pit antimony mine in Oaxaca state in southern Mexico. The United States currently imports all its antimony concentrates. The Coyote Creek project might be one of the active or emerging US and Canada-based projects to get a leg up from recent US executive orders and government initiatives to fast-track strategically important critical minerals projects. EV also recently sold its La Cienega copper project in the US state of Arizona to fellow ASX-listed explorer Magnum Mining and Exploration. EV is hoping to benefit from a 2 per cent net smelter return royalty on any future copper production at the project, allowing the company to retain exposure to upside from a project it considered non-core. The company will likely use the profits from the recent sales to rapidly advance the recently acquired Los Lirios project in Oaxaca, Mexico, which is shaping up as a source of potential near-term cash flows. EV acquired 70 per cent of the past-producing Los Lirios antimony mine, which encompasses 1652 hectares of antimony-rich historic open pits and underground workings. Previous production from Los Lirios concentrated on antimony ore at direct shipping ore grades. Two grab samples from the Los Lirios 3 open pit returned antimony assays of 62 per cent and 62.99 per cent respectively. In the wake of China's export bans over the past two years, critical minerals such as antimony have seen huge price increases as future supply concerns push demand for the mineral, which is used in semiconductors, ammunition, medical applications and as a lead alloy to harden the industrial base metal. EV also holds a 70 per cent interest in the Parag project in Peru, a bulk-scale porphyry with a copper-molybdenum-silver deposit beginning from surface, and 50 per cent of the drill-permitted Don Enrique copper-silver project in Peru, which has several promising targets and access to water, power, roads and labour from nearby towns. The company appears to be doing a sterling job of shoring up its cash position before launching an assault on its remaining prospective Americas assets. Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact:
