This Month
Mining boss calls for policy changes with more jobs in danger
The boss of WA’s peak resources lobby group says the Albanese government needs to step up to prevent more job losses.
- Brad Thompson and Tom Rabe
IGO flags impairment in second wave of nickel pain sweeping WA
There is no end in sight to the company’s nickel nightmare as it warns of a $275 million writedown on exploration assets.
- Brad Thompson
Liontown lithium supply test of faith for Tesla after BHP nickel halt
Nickel and lithium have had a rocky ride over the past 18 months. But the outlook cannot be wider for the biggest local players in each commodity.
- Brad Thompson
How exquisite timing and meditating shaped this Rich Lister’s fortune
After deciding a career in law wasn’t for him, Kerry Harmanis turned to prospecting in WA. That decision led to the $3.1 billion sale of Jubilee Mines.
- Julie-anne Sprague
No cheers for politicians at Kalgoorlie pub as nickel work dries up
The federal and WA governments are under the gun from people caught in the crossfire of BHP’s call to suspend nickel operations.
- Brad Thompson and Tom Rabe
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Nickel is a sobering reminder of commodity fortunes
Australia has been showered with resources export wealth for nearly 20 years. BHP’s nickel operations show we still have to get the basics of cost and productivity right.
- The AFR View
Glencore warns of nickel job losses unless labour costs controlled
BHP’s decision to shut its nickel mines, smelter and refinery is already being felt across families, communities and other mining companies and businesses.
- Brad Thompson, Tom Rabe and James Hall
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
BHP’s nickel blunder a timely reminder for Australia
BHP wanted to profit from the EV boom by selling nickel to battery makers. It hasn’t worked, yet.
- Anthony Macdonald
- Updated
- Mining
BHP shuts nickel business to arrest losses
BHP will suspend nickel mining after massive losses in a move that casts doubt over thousands of jobs in Western Australia and will inflame tensions with the Albanese government.
- Brad Thompson and Tom Rabe
Chalice cops a beating on back of weak link to Mitsubishi
The miner’s share price plunged almost 20 per cent after the market was underwhelmed by the potential tie-up with the Japanese giant.
- Brad Thompson
Oaktree trading house squares off against shareholders for nickel mine
The distressed debt specialist emerged in pole position to pick up the Avebury mine as job losses and closures engulf the country’s nickel industry.
- Aaron Weinman
June
Bargain hunters eye brutal metals correction
Copper, aluminium and nickel prices have slumped more than 10 per cent from their May highs, creating a good entry point for investors to step back in, according to strategists.
- Updated
- Alex Gluyas
LME failure on nickel due to its own self-interests: Rudd
The Australian ambassador says prices kept artificially low by China were creating a risk of a 20 per cent slump in global supply of the commodity.
- Matthew Cranston
May
Lithium giant says Chinese partners should have access to tax credits
IGO’s Ivan Vella says Chinese investors who pioneered Australian critical minerals processing have earned the right to be included in Labor’s incentives.
- Brad Thompson
- Updated
- Mining Summit
King says BHP prioritised shareholder returns over nickel jobs
The miner has said it will decide whether to close its nickel business by August. The resources minister says there has been a decade of underinvestment.
- Updated
- Brad Thompson
Why a small Pacific island territory is upending nickel prices
New Caledonia possesses an estimated 25 per cent of the world’s nickel resources and accounts for 6 per cent of global production of the metal.
- Rishi Lyengar
Defence Force ‘ready to fly’ to New Caledonia
Australia is working with French authorities to ensure a quick exit for people seeking to flee strife-torn New Caledonia as soon as the Pacific island nation’s airport is reopened.
- Updated
- Cecile Lefort
- Updated
- Federal budget
Miners hail tax credits but Coalition to block ‘billions for billionaires’
Australia’s critical minerals industry has hailed $13.7 billion in budget tax credits at the same time as the Coalition has vowed to block the policy claiming it will deliver “billions to billionaires”.
- Brad Thompson
Stellantis, Vale in nickel talks in Indonesian coup
The smelter deal would bring a rare Western investor to Indonesia, the world’s biggest producer of a commodity critical to making electric cars.
- Updated
- A. Anantha Lakshmi and Harry Dempsey
Miners hope for budget tax credits
Lithium and nickel miners who lobbied for tax breaks are set to be among the big budget winners as the Albanese government tries to shore up its ‘made in Australia’ plans.
- Brad Thompson
