Fire halts production at BHP’s largest iron ore mine

The boom in resource industry wealth flowing from iron ore and coal exports to China and India has created a record number of billionaires in Australia, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. The latest to top the billionaires club Down Under is iron ore queen Gina Reinhart, who has become the richest person ever in Australia, worth an estimated $10.3 billion. Reinhart is the first woman to to top BRW's Rich 200 list. The list shows Australia now has 35 billionaires, five more than last year, and a cut-off point of $215 million, which is $30 million higher than last year's cut-off of $185 million.

Hot on the heels of a lacklustre listing by Swiss commodities and mining behemoth Glencore, news comes of another multi-billion dollar natural resources IPO going awry. Resourcehouse planned to raise $3.6bn on the Hong Kong market on Thursday but has now postponed the listing to at least the end of the month. The Australian iron ore and coal miner has made three previous attempts to go public in 2009 and 2010.

With stronger balance sheets, improved credit availability and stabilizing metal prices, PwC Tuesday forecast the recovery in global metals M&A is expected to continue for the balance of this year. Iron ore targets were the primary driver of global metals M&A activity during the first quarter of 2011, contributing almost 40% of the deals worth a total of $5.1 billion, a significant increase over full-year 2010 when iron ore represented only 20% of total deals.

China's Baoshan Iron & Steel Co Ltd expects to receive regulatory approval for its coastal Zhanjiang project this year, Chairman He Wenbo said on Tuesday, despite government resolve to extend a fight against overcapacity. "We will try to obtain approval this year, and are starting to build a raw materials dock," He, also president of parent Baosteel Group, told reporters on the sidelines of a company event.

South African coal miner Exxaro Resources has agreed to pay AUD$123 million for Territory Resources with the goal of producing 10 million metric tonnes of iron ore a year, Bloomberg reported Monday: Exxaro offered A$0.46 a share for the iron-ore miner based in Perth, Western Australia, the companies said in a statement today. The bid, at a 64 percent premium to the closing price on May 20, was recommended by Territory’s board, they said.

The investment will allow ArcelorMittal Mines Canada to increase its annual production of iron ore concentrate from 14 million tons to 24 million tons by 2013. AMMC is also evaluating increasing its production of iron ore pellets from 9.2 million tons to 18.5 million tons. The scheme represents a total investment of CAN$2.1 billion dollars that will create 8,000 jobs during construction and more than 900 permanent jobs once completed. Commenting, Peter Kukielski, Member of the Group Management Board and Head of Mining for ArcelorMittal, said “ArcelorMittal Mines Canada is a flagship mining asset for the Group, which offers considerable opportunity for expansion. We have already announced our intention to grow our iron ore production to 100 million tons by 2015 and this expansion forms an important part of that.”

"Everyone who has money is rushing to invest in iron ore," Baosteel Group chairman, Xu Lejiang said on Friday, warning that supply may outstrip demand “sooner than expected” pushing prices down in the process. Brazil’s Vale, and Australian heavyweights BHP and Rio Tinto have some $45bn slated for new mines. The cash price of 62%-iron ore shipped to China's Tianjin port has almost tripled from Nov. 21, 2008 when data became available, according to the Steel Index.

Two Chinese state-owned companies have invested over $73m for a roughly 30% interest in privately-owned Century Iron's plans to export iron ore extracted at several properties in Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador in eastern Canada. The transactions are part of $115.5m of financing arranged by Century Iron through private placements and the amalgamation of Century Iron Mines Corp. and Century Iron Ore Holdings.

Valuations of iron ore companies have been cut in response to Western Australia's controversial royalty increase, with Andrew Forrest's fast-growing Fortescue Metals taking the biggest hit. The valuation hits were despite the protection from state the protection from state royalty increases that the miners negotiated last year with the federal government in the reworked - and less onerous - minerals resource rent tax.