Latest news with #FortescueMetals
News.com.au
19-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
‘Big beautiful bill' to push the ASX deeply in the red, expert warns
Cautious investors pushed the ASX lower on Monday as investors wait to see the outcome of the Reserve Bank of Australia's board meeting and monitor the US debt markets. The benchmark ASX 200 slumped 48.60 points or 0.58 per cent to 8,295.10. The broader All Ordinaries Index also finished in the red down 55.10 points or 0.64 per cent to 8,524.80. Nine of the 11 sectors finished in the red, led by energy and material stocks which were down 1.82 and 1.55 per cent respectively. Among the key falls were the major iron ore miners including BHP which slid 2.44 per cent to $38.75, Rio Tinto which fell 1.31 per cent to $119.46 and Fortescue Metals which slumped 4.88 per cent to $16.17. It was a mixed day for Australia's big four banks. CBA jumped 1.00 per cent to $171.36 while Westpac dropped 0.76 per cent to $31.37, NAB fell 0.46 per cent to $36.84 and ANZ sank 1.73 per cent to $28.40. IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said investors were cautious ahead of the 'very unlikely scenario' the Reserve Bank of Australia does not cut on Tuesday. 'If we don't get a rate cut tomorrow the ASX 200 will be down 100 points and it will be a tricky day,' he said. 'It's fully priced in so there will be carnage in the rates market, carnage in the equities market, the Aussie dollar will probably be supported.' Mr Sycamore said the other major issue to watch is the US bond rate, which is on the back of US President Donald Trump's latest bill. Dubbed the 'big, beautiful bill' by Mr Trump, there are substantive tax cuts of $2.5 trillion over 10 years, which could mean $4 trillion less is added to the government's coffers by 2034. Mr Sycamore warns, what happens tomorrow will largely depend on how the bond market reacts to the White House bill. 'It is going to be all about US yields. We could come into an absolute shocker tomorrow but I think it's all going to depend on where the US yields and whether they can digest it or not,' he said. 'It feels like yields want to pop to me, but it is at a huge level and whether it pops now or in a month's time it's hard to tell.' Moody's downgraded the US from its all important triple A credit rating, while US Treasury yields were up, with 10 year treasuries adding 7 basis points to 4.51 per cent while 30 year treasuries notched 8 basis points to 4.98 per cent. Defensive stocks including gold miners were among the major winners with Capricorn Metals was the best performer on the ASX 200, rising 3.4 per cent to $8.71, while Evolution Mining rose 3.2 per cent to $8.12. In company news, New Hope shares tumbled 7.1 per cent to $3.65 after downgrading its guidance for future coal output and sales. Domino's shares also slumped 2.6 per cent to $24.55, after announcing the chief of its Australian and New Zealand business Kerri Hayman would step down in August, following just nine months in the job.
Daily Mail
13-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Billionaire Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest and Moroccan politician Leila Benali in London for talks with UK Government on huge $51billion project a year after they were pictured kissing in Paris
Mining billionaire Andrew ' Twiggy ' Forrest is back in the headlines with the glamorous Moroccan politician he was photographed kissing in Paris last year. Mr Forrest has been in talks with Britain's Energy Secretary, Ed Miliband, about a $51billion dream to power the UK with electricity from Morocco. The project aims to send solar power generated in the Moroccan desert back to the British electricity grid through a 4000km undersea cable. Leila Benali, Morocco's Energy Minister, who was pictured kissing Mr Forrest a year ago, was also in London in late April to sell her nation's energy supply to Mr Miliband. But it is understood Mr Forrest did not cross paths with Ms Benali and he was instead in New York after being named among Time magazine's 100 most influential people. The Fortescue Metals Group chairman, worth an estimated $15billion, was recognised by Time for his philanthropy and transforming the mining giant into a 'clean-energy powerhouse'. Daily Mail Australia published pictures of Mr Forrest kissing the glamorous woman in a Paris park last May, almost a year after he announced his split from wife Nicola. Mr Forrest was seen with his arm around his companion's shoulders as they walked along Rue de Francs-Bourgeois through the historic Marais district on the Right Bank of the River Seine. An observer said the couple appeared 'very affectionate' as they held hands and enjoyed the sights of the City of Love. Ms Benali was subsequently named as the woman embraced by Mr Forrest in the Place de Vosges but she denied it was her to Moroccan media. Morocco World News quoted the nation's Ministry of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development describing reports about Ms Leila and Mr Forrest as 'offensive'. The outlet said Ms Benali 'denies any connection' to the photographs of Mr Forrest - 'as a minister responsible in the government as well as a Moroccan woman and mother'. 'She also extended her gratitude and appreciation to all those who have shown her support and solidarity as she navigates what she has maintained is a fabricated and baseless story,' it reported. Ms Benali was asked by a Moroccan journalist after the pictures were published if she had any romantic connection to Mr Forrest in an exchange captured by a local news website. 'No, no, I will not speak,' she told the reporter. Daily Mail Australia contacted Morocco's Ministry of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development about her association with Mr Forrest but it never responded. Mr Forrest declined to discuss the photographs at the time, with a spokeswoman saying the 63-year-old does not comment on private matters. There have been no published reports of Mr Forrest being seen with Ms Benali since the Paris images emerged. Mr Forrest founded iron ore miner Fortescue in 2003 and is now dedicated to 'ending the use of fossil fuels, creating green energy solutions, tackling global challenges like modern slavery' according to company's website. Fortescue announced in April last year it had entered a joint venture with Moroccan state-owned phosphate miner OCP Group to supply green hydrogen, ammonia and fertilisers. Mr Forrest is seeking the support of Mr Miliband for his proposal to pipe clean energy via subsea cable from North African solar farms to Europe. Ms Benali said 'the current state of global infrastructure requires radical transformations' when she addressed the Summit of the Future of Energy Security in London last month. Mr and Ms Forrest announced their separation on July 12 , 2023 after months of speculation they were no longer together. 'After 31 years of marriage, we have made the decision to live apart,' they said in a joint statement. 'Our friendship and commitment to our family remains strong.' As well as maintaining a 36 per cent shareholding Fortescue, the Forrests jointly oversee their private investment arm, Tattarang Capital, and co-chair the philanthropic Minderoo Foundation. The Forrests bought bush outfitters RM Williams through Tattarang in October 2020 and added the equally iconic Akubra hat brand to their portfolio in November 2023 year. At the same time the Forrests revealed the end of their marriage they stated there would be no change in the way their business and charity empire operated. 'There is no impact on the operations, control or direction of Fortescue, Minderoo or Tattarang,' a company spokeswoman assured investors. 'Andrew Forrest and Nicola Forrest share the same vision for Fortescue to become the world's leading green energy and green metals company leading global heavy industry to tackle climate change.'
Reuters
07-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Digging to zero? Inside the race to decarbonise mining
Summary Mining accounts for 4-7% of global emissions But nickel, cobalt, lithium and copper needed for energy transition Australia's Fortescue developing own technology to cut Scope 1 and 2 emissions in Pilbara mine Copper mine in DRC to procure baseload power from solar and storage system Despite progress, pace of decarbonisation uneven across sector May 6 - The resources needed to decarbonise the world economy lie buried beneath the Earth. There is no alternative to digging them out if the energy transition is to take place. Without mining, there will be no silicon for solar panels, no steel for wind turbines, no lithium, cobalt or nickel for electric vehicles. However mining itself accounts for 4-7% of global emissions. While an estimated 75-85% of the sector's emissions come from methane released from coal mines , this problem is expected to abate over the next 25 years as the world gets on course for net-zero. That's why the focus is on decarbonising other forms of mining that are vital to the energy transition, where demand is rapidly rising. The International Energy Agency projects that reaching net-zero will mean a 50% rise in demand for copper by 2040, along with a doubling of nickel and cobalt demand, and an eightfold increase in demand for lithium. As the mining industry looks to confront the challenge of producing more while emitting less, the company that appears to be front of the pack is Australian iron ore giant Fortescue. Rather than relying on carbon offsets to compensate for its residual emissions (Fortescue's website describes carbon offsets as a 'scam'), the company decided in 2022 to aim instead for 'real zero'. Its billionaire chairman, Andrew Forrest, is a ferocious critic of 'net-zero'; in April, he told the Innovation Zero conference in London that 'the word 'net' is killing us', demanding instead that companies find ways to stop burning fossil fuels. As such, Fortescue has committed to eliminating terrestrial Scope 1 and 2 emissions from its vast iron ore mining operations across an 87,000 square km area of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. And it aims to hit this milestone not in 2050, but in 2030. 'We said, 'Okay, let's pick a top-down target of 2030, backed by real climate science that is now undeniable, and put that mark in the sand and set that as an industry target',' says Dino Otranto, CEO of Fortescue Metals. 'We wanted to be the exemplar and demonstrate it's possible. But that meant we had to carry out that plan in a very unconventional way.' The first task, he says, has been to convert Fortescue's mining operations from diesel and, to a lesser extent, gas. It aims to deploy 2-3 gigawatts (GW) of solar and wind power, backed up by enormous battery storage systems. The 'biggest enabler' in making this viable, says Otranto, has been the steep decline in the cost of solar panels and batteries in recent years. 'The cost of renewable infrastructure is now significantly cheaper than its gas equivalent.' Switching to renewables is a huge undertaking that also involves the build-out of an extensive transmission network to bring power to where it is needed across the Pilbara region. But the really unconventional element of Fortescue's $6.2 billion decarbonisation plan is its investment in its own proprietary technology. The company has developed several designs for the trains used to haul iron ore along the 760km rail network that links its Pilbara mines to Port Hedland on the coast of Western Australia, from where it is shipped to global markets. One of these designs seeks to harness gravitational energy as trains descend 400 metres in altitude on their journey from the mine sites to the coast. Currently, diesel trains apply their brakes on the descent 'and you get rid of all that energy through huge toasters and resistors', says Otranto. 'It's very, very inefficient.' Fortescue has dealt with this problem by developing motors that harvest energy during the descent, then release the charge when trains make their way back up to the mine. This regenerating battery technology is just one of the technical innovations that Fortescue has developed within impressively short timelines. It is also using ammonia-powered trains, while its latest prototype for a green electric design went from 'nothing to production-ready in nine months', says Otranto. 'I think sometimes people misunderstand what we really are pulling off here, and that's why so many people just doubt that we're actually doing it,' says Otranto. 'Well, I open the door to competition, suppliers: I want them to see that it is possible. This is the right thing to do.' Fortescue's ambitions are unmatched within the industry, but it is far from the only mining company making progress towards reducing emissions. Across the world, many mine sites – which are often in remote areas, disconnected from national electricity grids – are finding that it makes financial sense to install solar power or other forms of renewable energy as an alternative to diesel generators. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, for example, the Kamoa Copper mine, the largest copper mining complex in Africa, announced in early April that it will procure baseload power from a solar and storage system to be built and operated by renewable energy developer CrossBoundary Energy. Kamoa will not incur an upfront cost, instead paying for the electricity it receives over the course of its contract with CrossBoundary. The deal is set to reduce the mine's carbon emissions by around 78,750 tonnes per year. 'Where this project is exceptionally exciting is that this is a baseload renewable energy solution,' says Matthew Tilleard, managing partner at CrossBoundary Energy. The baseload characteristic is achieved by building a system that he concedes is 'in some ways massively oversized'. The company will build a 222 megawatt (MW) solar array and a massive battery system to guarantee 30 MW of baseload power. 'But what that means is we're delivering reliable power, baseload power, that's completely carbon-free at a price that is cheaper than diesel.' Indeed, it is the economics of off-grid renewable energy that make these systems attractive to mining companies. 'You don't have to believe in climate change,' says Tilleard. 'This is cheaper.' Technology is also advancing around mining trucks. There are around 28,000 of these gargantuan and highly specialised vehicles operating around the world, emitting around 69 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. The International Council on Mining and Metals, the industry organisation that represents 24 of the world's largest mining companies, is running an initiative to find ways to reduce emissions from trucks. Mining companies are partnering with equipment manufacturers such as Caterpillar, Komatsu and Sandvik in the initiative. 'Since we started that programme in 2018, we have seen significant progress,' says Bryony Clear Hill, the ICMM's director of innovation. 'We're now estimating that we'll have zero-emission vehicles at scale by 2030, which is a full 10 years ahead of the best estimates when we started the programme.' Clear Hill adds that there will be no 'one size fits all' solution to decarbonising mining vehicles. Battery electric technology does appear to have the most momentum, however, with several prototypes already being tested. Despite the visible progress being made around the world, the pace of decarbonisation is highly uneven across the industry. This is partly because every mine site is different: the feasibility of installing zero-emissions solutions such as solar or wind power depends on highly localised conditions, as well as the availability of land. Much also depends on government support. A mine that is grid-connected will not be able to decarbonise if the grid is dependent on fossil fuel power, for example. Government policies to enable mining companies to sign power-purchase agreements with private electricity suppliers are also key. 'There's this broader ecosystem of enablers that needs to be in place to support mining, to be able to reduce at scale, at pace, so that we can be able to supply those critical minerals,' says Hayley Zipp, director of the environment programme at the ICCM. 'If you've got weak access to power-purchasing agreements and independent power producers, that's really going to slow you down.' Gregoire Bellois is a senior policy advisor at the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development. He says that mining companies display varying levels of commitment around decarbonisation. Some larger companies are making 'real progress', he says. Others achieve decarbonisation only 'on paper', simply by divesting their highest-emitting mines. Most Chinese companies are 'really, very early in this process', Bellois adds. Chinese firms are increasingly dominant in certain strategic mineral supply chains; Benchmark Mineral Intelligence estimates that Chinese companies will control 46% of the world's cobalt supply by 2030. Though Bellois says some have shown interest in reducing their carbon footprint, 'currently, they don't see why they should do it. They have no requirement to do it. So, they don't do it.' One development that could have worldwide effects is the European Union's proposed Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. If implemented, CBAM would impose a levy on carbon-intensive companies that export into the EU market. 'In theory, it's a really good tool,' says Bellois. But he warns there could be 'perverse effects', in that many producers will effectively be excluded from the European market, and will instead simply redirect exports towards customers in China. While Bellois believes some mining companies can decarbonise, he is sceptical that the entire industry can make it even to 'net' zero by 2050, let alone the 'real' zero championed by Fortescue. Yet, given the significant acceleration in the production of many types of minerals, action is vital. 'We expect to mine in the next 30 years more than what we mined over the whole history of humanity,' says Bellois. 'Every effort to try to limit the amount of what is emitted would be a net win.'
AU Financial Review
01-05-2025
- Business
- AU Financial Review
Biotech Dimerix lands $940m licensing deal for kidney drug sales
ASX-listed Dimerix has landed one of the biggest licensing deals by an Australian biotechnology company after US pharmaceutical group Amicus Therapeutics agreed to $940 million in payments for future sales of its kidney disease drug. Shares in Melbourne-based Dimerix were trading 50 per cent higher on news of the breakthrough on Thursday afternoon, valuing the company at $400 million. The biotech group counts former Fortescue Metals and WorleyParsons executive Peter Meurs as its biggest shareholder, with a 13.5 per cent stake.
