Business Day Australia

Loose lips sink ship for the Xstrata boss

Posted on February 8, 2012

The Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan bankers must have been sweating in the London hotel room on Tuesday night where their client, the Xstrata boss Mick Davis, vented his frustration that news of his $US90 billion ($83 billion) deal with Glencore had leaked out last week.

Mining investment boom exposes hypocrisy in claims of sovereign risk

Posted on October 30, 2011

Writing in the Business Day, Clancy Yeates launches a scathing attack on Australia's mining industry.

Comparing Australia to Greece would be patently ridiculous to most people. Sure, things here are hardly perfect. But no one would dispute that the debt-stricken nation is another league, with increasingly bitter protests over budget cuts required as part of last week's deal with its creditors. Despite these vast differences, conflating Australia's situation with that of Greece is exactly what some in the business community are carelessly doing.

Coking coal forecast cut as recovery lags

Posted on September 20, 2011

Australia cut its forecast for coking coal production in fiscal 2012 as recovery from natural disasters takes longer than expected but lifted its projection for iron ore production a touch.

BHP fears risk in Guinea project

Posted on September 9, 2011

Sovereign risk issues are slowing BHP's alumina project in Guinea. BHP Billiton is spending money hand over fist expanding its global production capacity.

Xstrata buys cattle farm for coal mine

Posted on July 24, 2011

A large Queensland pastoral farm used for wagyu cattle breeding is set to become a coal mine after Australian Agricultural Company (AAC) agreed to sell a property to mining company Xstrata.

The global miner will pay $21.6 million cash for the 17,474-hectare Meteor Downs property without any cattle or machinery.

Image is from Cyrille BERNIZET