The dispute with Rio dates back to the miner’s sale of the Dunkirk smelter in France to Gupta for $500 million in 2018.

Rio Tinto is the first of the majors to post earnings, kicking off a reporting season that’s expected to see record results across the board.

IGO, which completed a $1.4 billion deal to buy a stake in Tianqi Lithium's Australian assets last month, has been looking to focus on its nickel and lithium ventures.

Australian companies raise funds to advance a suite of projects including copper, nickel, gold, silver, lithium rare earths and uranium.

The task of agreeing on regulations by mid-2023 is "seemingly insurmountable".

Carol Meredith will leave the role in September to spend more time with family overseas and the search for a new chief executive is underway.

The project would be an extension of Isaac Plains, producing up to 2.5 million tonnes per annum of saleable coking coal.