Rio Tinto first-quarter shipments rise 4.7 pct

Rio Tinto will invest US$310 million to assure a sustainable water supply for its iron ore operations in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, ensuring a sufficient resource to accommodate the expansion of annual production capacity up to the planned 333 million tonnes (Mt/a). The coastal water supply project, which involves construction of a new borefield and pipeline system, will be completed by mid-2013, coinciding with the first ore from the planned increase in production capacity to 283 Mt/a.

Billionaire iron ore heiress Gina Rinehart is being sued in the NSW Supreme Court by her daughter, Hope Welker. The nature of Welker’s claim is currently unknown, and Rinehart’s legal team is seeking to keep the matter confidential. Rinehart’s barrister, Alan Sullivan, QC, told the court the application had been made because of “the impact on commercial negotiations”.

Amid dire predictions about job losses and the drying up of investment in the sector due to a proposed carbon tax come more bad news for Australia's coal miners. Platts reports New South Wales plans to increase the royalties it receives from coal companies to offset some $400 million in extra costs to the state's coal-fired electricity generators due to the very same federal government carbon levy. Around 95% of NSW's royalty revenue comes from coal mines where rates currently top out at 8.2% of the value of production and is forecast to rise to $2.1 billion in the year ending June 2013 after the hikes come into effect.

With bucket sizes ranging from 18-35 m3 (depending on materials), it has an operating weight range of 216-220 ts (depending on configuration) and is powered by a Tier 2-compliant Komatsu SSDA16V160E-2 engine rated at 1,316 kW net. It is available in two configurations, standard boom and high lift boom.In standard boom configuration, it can load Komatsu HD1500-7 (144 t capacity) and similar-class trucks in four passes, and 730E(184 t capacity) trucks in five passes.In high-lift boom configuration,it can load 830Es (222 t capacity) trucks in seven passes. Photo courtesy of Komatsu America Corp.

Australians believe that the mining industry is much larger than it actually is, according to a study by the Australian Institute. In the study released on Thursday, Australians were asked to estimate what percentage of the nations workers are employed by the mining industry. The average response was around 16 per cent, when according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) the actual figure is 1.9 per cent. The survey also found Australians believe that mining accounts for more than one third (35%) of economic activity. However, ABS figures show that the mining industry accounts for around 9.2 per cent of GDP.

Atlas Iron Limited (“Atlas”) [ASX: AGO] has today declared its recommended off-market takeover offer (“Recommended Offer”) for all of the fully paid ordinary shares in FerrAus Limited (“FerrAus”) [ASX: FRS] free of all defeating conditions. Additionally, Atlas confirms that FerrAus Shareholders who validly accepted the Recommended Offer before it was declared unconditional will be issued their consideration within 3 business days of today’s date (13 September 2011). FerrAus Shareholders who now validly accept the Recommended Offer will be issued with their Atlas Shares within 3 business days of their acceptance being processed.

The Canberra Times reports Australia's proposed emissions trading scheme – which will evolve from the carbon tax being implemented next year – has won praise from Beijing, where it will be the model for one of six Chinese pilot programmes to be introduced in 2013. Earlier this week the EU also endorsed the controversial Australian plans and announced the start of talks for the eventual linkage of carbon trading by 2015. The carbon tax is vociferously opposed by Australia's coal export industry, the world's largest, which will be forced to pay a levy of $25 per metric tonne of carbon pollution next year.

Julia Gillard, determined to join efforts to reduce global warming, intends to revive cap and trade as Europe puts curbs on the United Nations-run emissions credit market and the U.S. opts out entirely. The Australian prime minister’s plan to make factories and utilities either cut the nation’s greenhouse gases or pay for pollution-curbing programs abroad may force companies to buy an average 66 million metric tons of credits a year starting in 2015, sending prices up 29 percent, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. That’s about two-thirds of Europe’s annual demand since 2008.

The Australian-based Intra Energy Corporation (IEC) has started coal mining in Mbalawala Mine, Ngaka coalfield in Tanzania, targeting both the domestic and export thermal coal markets of Kenya, Mauritius and India.