
Rio Tinto Say Iron Ore Exports Steady After Naming New CEO
Exports of key steel-making material iron ore reached 79.9 million tons for the three months ended June 30, 1% lower than for the same period last year, Rio said in a statement Wednesday. It was a jump from the 70.7 million tons shipped in the first quarter, when four cyclones impacted ports servicing Western Australian mining hub the Pilbara.
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Yahoo
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- Yahoo
Canada's First Quantum to explore gold pre-payment deal from Zambian mines
By Divya Rajagopal TORONTO (Reuters) -Canadian miner First Quantum Minerals is exploring a gold pre-payment deal from its Zambian mines to boost its balance sheet, CFO Ryan MacWilliam told analysts on Thursday, as the company looks at new options to raise funds beyond a stake sale. The company was exploring a minority stake sale of its two Zambian mines last year. On Thursday, First Quantum said while the stake sale is not off the table, it will be exploring gold streaming deals from its Kansanshi mine in Zambia. "We have obviously seen record high gold prices, that means the gold pre-payment or streaming market is strong, it is obviously an active market, and that gives a variety of options from a financial perspective, in addition to those we have talked about before," MacWilliam said on an analyst call discussing the company's quarterly results. Gold streaming is a financing mechanism in which a buyer makes an up-front payment to a miner in exchange for purchasing future production from the miner, usually at a predetermined price. Shares of First Quantum were last trading up 1% on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The two mines in Zambia are crucial assets for First Quantum after the shutdown of its Cobre Panama copper mine in 2023 following a dispute with the Panamanian government. The company said it continues to have active discussions with Panamanian officials to bring about a resolution. Panama's top court ordered the closure of the mine after large public protests against it. After months of negotiations, Panama President Jose Mulino allowed the company to export copper concentrate from the mine in June, which was mined before the previous government ordered the shutdown. First Quantum said it is spending $15 million per month on the care and maintenance of the Cobre Panama mine, a figure that is expected to go up to $17 million to $18 million by the end of this year. According to RBC Capital Markets, the company ended the quarter with $745 million in cash and $6.2 billion in debt compared to $751 million in cash and $6.5 billion in debt at the end of the first quarter of 2025. (Divya Rajagopal in Toronto; Editing by Nia Williams)
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Surprise! Four-Day Work Weeks Make Employees Happier, Productive
The evidence is growing that a shorter work week is better not just for workers, but for employers as well. The largest-ever study of a four-day work week found that employees working fewer hours weren't just happier, but they also maintained productivity and had better job satisfaction, according to an article on the study published by Scientific American. In fact, the four-day work week was so successful that most companies kept the reduced schedule even after the study ended. Published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, the study looked at 2,896 employees at 141 companies in the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom. Shorter Week, Less Stress Before shifting to the reduced four-day work week, companies involved in the study restructured their workflow to maintain 80% of a worker's weekly productivity by eliminating activities like unnecessary meetings. Some researchers suspected that the condensed schedule would lead to more stress for workers who hurried to get their tasks completed in time. 'When workers want to deliver the same productivity, they might work very rapidly to get the job done, and their well-being might actually worsen,' said lead author Wen Fan, a sociologist at Boston College in Massachusetts, in the Scientific American article. 'But that's not what we found.' Overall, workers felt better job satisfaction and reported better mental health after six months of the study. And while the study didn't look at whether companies' productivity levels dropped, it did say that 90% of companies kept the shorter work week even after the trial ended, indicating they weren't worried about a dip in profits. The study did leave some questions unanswered. For example, since employees self-reported the results, researchers wondered whether they over-emphasized the positive benefits in an effort to retain the extra day off. Read the original article on Investopedia


The Verge
an hour ago
- The Verge
Satya Nadella seeks to reassure Microsoft employees in layoffs memo
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella didn't send a company-wide memo when the software maker laid off as many as 9,000 employees earlier this month. Now, Nadella is finally addressing what's on many Microsoft employee's minds: layoffs. 'I want to speak to what's been weighing heavily on me, and what I know many of you are thinking about: the recent job eliminations,' says Nadella in a memo to all Microsoft employees today. 'These decisions are among the most difficult we have to make. They affect people we've worked alongside, learned from, and shared countless moments with — our colleagues, teammates, and friends.' While Nadella expresses gratitude for affected employees, he doesn't guarantee there won't be more waves of layoffs in the near future, and notes that Microsoft's headcount is 'relatively unchanged' despite the cuts: I also want to acknowledge the uncertainty and seeming incongruence of the times we're in. By every objective measure, Microsoft is thriving — our market performance, strategic positioning, and growth all point up and to the right. We're investing more in CapEx than ever before. Our overall headcount is relatively unchanged, and some of the talent and expertise in our industry and at Microsoft is being recognized and rewarded at levels never seen before. And yet, at the same time, we've undergone layoffs. This is the enigma of success in an industry that has no franchise value. Progress isn't linear. It's dynamic, sometimes dissonant, and always demanding. But it's also a new opportunity for us to shape, lead through, and have greater impact than ever before. After addressing the layoffs, Nadella also lays out Microsoft's mission, priorities, and culture. The mission, as you might expect, revolves very much around the potential of AI. He asks more than 200,000 Microsoft employees to 'imagine if all 8 billion people could summon a researcher, an analyst, or a coding agent,' and how this 'could unlock entirely new levels of agility and innovation.' Nadella also outlines three key business priorities: security, quality, and AI transformation. Security was made Microsoft's number one priority last year, after a series of attacks and trust waning in Microsoft's security efforts. Now, Nadella says Microsoft is 'doubling down on the fundamentals' while also focusing on AI. 'Security and quality are non-negotiable. Our infrastructure and services are mission critical for the world, and without them we don't have permission to move forward,' says Nadella. On the culture side, there are plenty of concerns from Microsoft employees that the continuous layoffs could create a culture of fear. Nadella now wants employees to keep the 'growth mindset' culture in mind while the AI platform shift is reshaping Microsoft's products and business models. 'It might feel messy at times, but transformation always is,' says Nadella. 'Teams are reorganizing. Scopes are expanding. New opportunities are everywhere.' Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All by Tom Warren Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All AI Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Microsoft Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All News Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Security Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Tech