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Iron Ore

Steelmaker and mining competitors unite on plan to fast track green iron production

BlueScope, Rio Tinto and BHP say Australia needs a commercially viable alternative to blast furnace steelmaking, but securing enough gas and green hydrogen will be a challenge.
The Bluescope steelworks at Port Kembla near Wollongong

analysis:Critical minerals prices are crashing — and there could be some high-profile casualties

The sudden evaporation of hype and hot air in the energy transition industry may leave many who plunged into critical minerals in a critical condition, writes business editor Ian Verrender.
a mine site with a big truck and white rock

Fortescue Metals Group rail operations to resume after multiple car derailments in Pilbara

Normal railway operations for Andrew Forest's Fortescue Metals Group are expected to be up and running again on Wednesday after an incident on the line between Newman and Port Hedland on Saturday suspended operations.
A man with a bright yellow jacket holds a walkie talkie in front of his mouth. He's standing at a mine site.

Multi-billion-dollar bid to turn Pilbara's red dirt to green steel

Australia's iron ore industry goes hand-in-hand with China. But it is a South Korean company looking to stump up billions of dollars for this green iron facility. 
Aerial image of bulk carriers at a port

analysis:Critical minerals may derail Australia's relationship with China

The dust has barely settled after Australia and China reached an uneasy truce, but our abundance of critical minerals and China's stranglehold on them has us in the middle of a geopolitical tug of war between America and the Middle Kingdom, writes Ian Verrender.
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Composite image of Xi Jinping, Anthony Albanese and Joe Biden.

Gina Rinehart's children maintain united front against her in legal showdown over mining riches

John Hancock and Bianca Rinehart appear in WA's Supreme Court together for the second day as they continue their very public legal feud with their mother over mining royalties they claim their grandfather left for them.
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Headshot of a woman in sunglasses walking in a city street

Australia's iron ore miners are battling resource depletion and a 'structural peak' in China

Australia's leading iron ore miners are starting to diverge on their views about future demand for the commodity that's vital to our economy, and it's showing up in their investment decisions.
A dump truck emptying a pile of red dirt into a very large mine - there are hills in the background.

How a 'sharp deterioration' in China's property market could affect housing affordability in Australia

Australia's biggest trading partner is facing its biggest economic slowdown in decades, and the Reserve Bank has warned that stress in China's economy will be felt across the world — including here in Australia.
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Chinese flags near the logo Evergrande Centre in Shanghai, China, on September 24, 2021.

Looking up to see female leaders inspires mining industry 'minority'

Mining is a famously male-dominated industry, but a group of women on a remote site in WA's north say that is changing. 
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group of women in high-vis pose for a selfie through an instagram post cutout.

Three years after Juukan Gorge disaster, Rio Tinto blast damages ancient rock shelter

Mining giant Rio Tinto says it has apologised to traditional owners after a blast at one of its operations in WA's Pilbara caused damage to an ancient heritage site. 
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A wide shot showing the top of a rock shelter in the foreground, with bushes and shrubs stretching across a desert landscape.

Exodus at Andrew Forrest's FMG continues as third top executive departs in a week

Billionaire mining magnate Andrew Forrest's Fortescue Metals Group loses another of its top executives, as former Reserve Bank deputy governor Guy Debelle quits after 18 months at the company.
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Composite picture of Reserve Bank deputy governor Guy Debelle (left) and Andrew Forrest (right).

'Heroic' John Hancock forced to drive with old brake pads amid pressure from billionaire mother, court told

Billionaire miner Gina Rinehart threatened her son John Hancock when he tried to find out about what had happened to his inheritance, the WA Supreme Court is told, at a time when he was so hard up for cash he couldn't even afford new brake pads for his car.
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A young man stands with an older woman in front of microphones.

'Egregious breach of duty': Gina Rinehart tried to deflate value of shares in family trust, court hears

An explosive memo written by Gina Rinehart, allegedly part of a "special project" to deflate the value of Hancock Prospecting shares, has been presented to the Supreme Court as part of a huge civil trial in Perth. 
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A woman sits watching a speaker intently at a conference.

Gina Rinehart 'took control of everything' when Lang died, cutting off children against his wishes, court hears

Mining pioneer Lang Hancock's daughter Gina Rinehart ignored an agreement with her father that would have given her children a 49 per cent of his mining assets, WA's Supreme Court hears.
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Gina Rinehart at a podium

'She won't come to court': Lawyer asks why Gina Rinehart won't be cross-examined in mining royalties trial

Lawyers for two of mining billionaire Gina Rinehart's children ask the Supreme Court why their mother will not front court to answer key questions in a case over billions of dollars in Pilbara iron ore mines.
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A woman in a black jacket and red scarf stands in front of a red wall

Gina Rinehart's lawyer claims late father pressured by then-wife Rose Porteous to fund 'luxurious lifestyle'

Gina Rinehart's lawyers have sensationally accused her own late father of siphoning money to himself under pressure from his then-wife Rose Porteous to fund a "luxurious lifestyle".
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A screenshot from a grainy VHS video shows Rose Hancock Porteous in a bright red silk shirt.

analysis:The Australian dollar is on the slide, and no-one knows just how low it will go

Despite years of trade surpluses and a budget surplus to boot, the Australian dollar is on the slide once more — and it's all thanks to commodities and interest rates, writes business editor Ian Verrender.
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A pile of Australian dollar coins on top of several bank notes

'Fatal flaws' in argument underpin claim for slice of Gina Rinehart's iron ore empire, WA Supreme Court hears

Lawyers for billionaire Gina Rinehart seek to demolish a claim by a former business partner of her father Lang Hancock to a share of the jewel in her lucrative iron ore empire.
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A woman in a large hat and sunglasses smiles broadly.

Rio boss 'cautiously optimistic' a 'measured response' will lift China from its economic funk

Rio Tinto chief executive Jakob Stausholm says he is "cautiously optimistic" Chinese authorities will boost the country's ailing economy despite uncertainty about Beijing's plans.
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A headshot of a Jakob Stausholm.

How week one of the battle of the billionaires played out in WA's Supreme Court

The business partnership between Lang Hancock and Peter Wright created billions – but the fractured relationship between the men's heirs is now playing out in the WA Supreme Court.
A background image of a mine site, with pictures of four mining figures from left to right.

Lawyers say 1986 letter proves Gina Rinehart knew lucrative iron ore mines were not just hers

The claim the mining magnate knew her company's Hope Downs mines were part of a joint partnership are central to a high-profile dispute over unpaid royalties playing out in court.
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Gina Rinehart at Roy Hill

Here's what happened on day one of the long-awaited showdown between mining heiresses

The descendants of late mining magnate Peter Wright claim they are entitled to a bigger share of iron ore royalties based on an agreement struck with Lang Hancock in the 1970s, the WA Supreme Court hears. 
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Gina Rinehart smiles while standing in front of cattle pens

Multi-billion-dollar renewables project earmarked for Yindjibarndi native title land

The Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation has fought for years for compensation from iron ore mines in the Pilbara, but may soon be producing renewable energy to sell to those same companies.
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Long shot of an older indigenous man standing in tall grass near a statue.

Australia's half-trillion-dollar resources boom runs out of puff as exports decline

A boom in the value of Australia's resources exports is coming to an end amid forecasts that earnings from iron ore, coal, and gas will fall.
NCIG Stacker Reclaimer as part of the billion dollar second stage of Newcastle's third coal loader

Iron ore miner eyes WA expansion with $10m port, rail acquisitions

Iron ore miner Fenix Resources is expanding to become a bulk commodity logistics operator for other resources, including lithium, by purchasing WA mine, port and rail infrastructure. 
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A large road train