Rio’s now mining iron ore for $14.30 a tonne

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Sundance Resources has shortlisted potential partners for its $4.6 billion iron ore project in West Africa, it said on Wednesday, sending its shares up as much as 6 percent.

Australian businesswoman Gina Rinehart who inherited a debt-ridden mining company 20 years ago, is predicted to become the world's richest person, according to media reports on Tuesday. Rinehart, 57, is already the richest Australian after her wealth more than doubled to $10.3bn this year. That still places her far behind Carlos Slim, Mexico's cellphone magnate worth some $73bn, but Rinehart's 100%-owned Hancock Prospecting has massive iron ore and coal projects that will start producing by 2014 and earn her annual profits of as much as $10bn.

China’s massive appetite for commodities is creating concerns for the global economy, the environment and workers in other countries. In a series of reports, VOA is looking at the economic power modern China wields. Chinese government and company officials are signing agreements at a dizzying pace around the world, including in places where few other foreigners invest.

Rio Tinto is comfortable with the company's multibillion-dollar project budgets in Australia, where labour, input and services costs were all increasing, Chief Executive Tom Albanese said on Tuesday. "I'm comfortable that our budgets in Australia are being managed appropriately," Albanese said at a business lunch.

The proposed Oakajee iron ore port and rail project in Australia, which last week faced the loss of a key customer, may have hit another snag, with one the two developers saying it was having problems raising funding. Murchison Metals , a 50:50 partner in the multi-billion dollar Oakajee (OPR) project, said on Monday it was now in talks with several parties, including Chinese-related investors, interested in participating in its development.

Tata Steel Ltd will use the $1.12 billion ('5,030 crore) it earned from the sale of its 26.3% stake in Australia's Riversdale Mining Ltd to fund the expansion of its steel-making capacity in Jamshedpur and Kalinganagar, as well as mining operations and capital expenditure in its European operations.

Iron, zinc and coal miner China Natural Resources shed 20% of its value on the Nasdaq stock exchange in morning trade on Monday in the absence of any fresh news about its operations while China Shen Zou Mining lost over 8%, the worst performers in the sector. Investors are continuing to worry about the soundness of Chinese companies that came to the US market through so-called reverse listings with the value of the 98 companies declining sharply in recent weeks as creative accounting and other irregularities are uncovered at firms engaging in operations as diverse as software and timber.

Rio Tinto's $US10 billion-plus Simandou iron ore project in Guinea is rapidly pressing ahead, but not like a typical giant development by the Anglo-Australian mining giant. By the end of the year, Rio is expected to have spent close to $US2bn ($1.9bn) on Simandou, including a $US700 million settlement payment to the government, and to begin construction of a project it has committed to produce from in 2015.

Two of the world's richest women are seeking another $136 million by suing Rio Tinto. According to a story in The Daily Telegraph, Gina Reinhart and Angela Bennett, who are heirs to the Hancock and Wright iron ore fortunes, are suing mining giant Rio Tinto over the rights to iron ore beneath as much as 150 square kilometres of the Pilbara iron ore region of Western Australia: The lawsuit in the NSW Supreme Court is seeking an estimated $136 million in past royalties dating back two decades. If successful, the legal bid could also reap the descendants of Hancock and Wright a further $25 million each year in royalties, even assuming the iron ore price halves by 2016.