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Rio Tinto raises 2025 copper output view on increase from Mongolia's Oyu Tolgoi mine
Australian mining giant Rio Tinto projection higher consolidated mined copper production for financial 2025 on Wednesday, driven mostly by a prepared for 50% surge in output from its Oyu Tolgoi operation in Mongolia next year. While Rio Tinto's revenues mostly stem from iron ore, it is moving focus towards copper, projecting a 3% annual growth from 2024 onwards through existing tasks, which not only consists of the Oyu Tolgoi mine, but also partnerships with Codelco in Chile and First Quantum in Peru. The miner aims to reach a yearly copper production of 1 million metric loads by 2030, aiming to develop into a major player in the clean energy supply chain by focusing on premium, low-emission raw materials necessary for energy change. We are executing our method of delivering a stronger, more diversified, and growing business, underpinned by our belief in the demand for products which are important for the worldwide energy transition, CEO Jakob Stausholm stated. Rio Tinto, nevertheless, tasks an increase in total capital expenses for fiscal 2025, approximating $11.0 billion, compared to the $9.5 billion anticipated for 2024. In October, Rio Tinto agreed to purchase U.S.-based Arcadium Lithium in a $6.7 billion deal, a tactical relocation set to propel it to the position of the world's third-largest lithium miner, considerably increasing its existence in the electrical car battery supply chain. The world's largest producer of iron ore stated it anticipates copper production in 2025 to be 780,000-850,000. heaps, compared with 660,000-720,000 loads expected in fiscal. 2024. Rio Tinto's Rincon 3000 starter project in Argentina. attained a turning point with its first lithium production last. week, leading the way for a final financial investment on the job by. the year end. It keeps its predicted capital investment for. decarbonisation efforts through 2030 at the lower end of the. $ 5-$ 6 billion range.
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Activist financier Palliser advises Rio Tinto to scrap London listing
Activist financier Palliser Capital on Wednesday required Rio Tinto scrap its London listing and unify its corporate structure in Australia, saying that shareholders have already lost an estimated $50 billion in value due to the double structure. Palliser in a highly worded letter to the iron ore giant's. board stated ditching the out-of-date double listing structure would. unlock $28 billion in worth to London investors in the. near-term and extra value for the combined group in the. medium-term. We urge the Board to act quickly to stop the clock on. even more worth damage for investors in the hands of a. structure that is unsuited for the corporate world these days, the. hedge fund said. In its letter, Palliser cited BHP's example, which scrapped. its dual listing in favour of its main listing in Sydney in. 2022. The financier said that an unified Rio Tinto would trade up. to and ultimately exceed its current rate, which closed at. A$ 120.08 ($ 77.30) per share on Wednesday. The London-listed stock ended at 50.20 pounds ($ 63.68) on. Tuesday. Palliser is requiring an independent, comprehensive and. transparent review by the miner's board into the rationale for. maintaining a corporate structure.
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Australian shares end lower, dragged down by financials, weak quarterly GDP information
Australian shares ended lower on Wednesday, dragged down by financials as information revealed the economy grew less than anticipated in the third quarter and as financiers priced in rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) from April. The S&P/ ASX 200 index alleviated 0.4% to 8,462.6 points. The sub-index scaled a lifetime high of 8,514.50 points on Tuesday. Australia's economy grew by less than anticipated in the third quarter as data from the Australian Bureau of Stats revealed real gdp (GDP) grew 0.3% in the September quarter, missing market forecasts of 0.4%. The weaker-than-expected quarterly GDP figures not only cooled recent stock market optimism, however also advanced expectations for the RBA's first rate cut from May 2025 to April 2025, said Hebe Chen, a market expert at IG. Rate-sensitive banking stocks led losses, closing 0.8% lower. The Big Four banks shed between 0.5% and 1.6%. Bucking the trend, miners finished 0.7% greater to its highest closing in over 3 weeks on remaining optimism surrounding China stimulus. Heavily-weighted BHP Group, Fortescue and Rio Tinto advanced in between 0.7% and 1.4%. Shares of Lynas Rare Earths ended 5% greater after China banned exports of some critical mineral to the U.S. Gold miners closed 0.9% higher, putting Advancement Mining and ASX-listed shares of Newmont Corporation among leading gainers on the benchmark. New Zealand's benchmark S&P/ NZX 50 index closed 1.5%. lower at 12,896.67 points, logging losses for a 2nd. consecutive session.
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Australia's Lynas near 3-week high after China prohibits export of important minerals to United States
Shares of Australia's Lynas Rare Earths climbed to a near threeweek high on Wednesday, a day after China prohibited exports of some critical mineral to the United States. China on Tuesday prohibited exports of gallium, germanium and antimony that have prevalent military applications to the United States, intensifying trade stress after Washington's. newest crackdown on China's chip sector. China's choice has actually raised concerns that it could target. other critical minerals, including those with even broader usage. such as nickel or cobalt, and rare-earths. Shares of Lynas, the world's greatest producer of uncommon earth. minerals outside China, ended the session up by 5% at A$ 7.32,. and was amongst the top gainers on the benchmark ASX 200,. which slipped 0.4%. The ban signifies the near-inevitability of an increased. U.S.-China trade war 2.0, as Beijing continues its tit-for-tat. action to Washington's chip constraints, said Hebe Chen, a. market analyst at IG. This increasing stress might potentially place Australia, a. crucial player in the international critical minerals market, to capitalize. on increased demand and diversify its export partnerships, Chen. said. The order also requires more stringent review of end-usage of. graphite items exported to the U.S. Shares of graphite companies in Australia such as Syrah. Resources and Renascor Resources closed 13.6%. and 3.3%, respectively.
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Oil rates edge up on geopolitical stress, OPEC+ supply plans
Oil rates firmed on Wednesday as market individuals weighed up geopolitical stress and the possibility of OPEC+ extending supply cuts against weaker need. Brent crude futures rose 16 cents, or 0.2%, to $ 73.78 a barrel by 0440 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate unrefined futures got 14 cents, or 0.2%, to $70.08. On Tuesday, Brent published its biggest gain in two weeks, increasing 2.5%. An unsteady ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, South Korea's reduced statement of martial law and a rebel offensive in Syria that threatens to attract forces from a number of oil-producing nations, all lent support to oil prices, said Priyanka Sachdeva, senior market expert at Phillip Nova. Oil markets, nevertheless, are largely marking down a perfectly provided 2025 in the middle of slow need signals from the U.S. and China, the world's leading 2 economies, she added. Weaker demand signals from mainland China are raising issues about need in the oil market ... The world's biggest crude oil importer may have a hard time to maintain its substantial share of international need by 2025. Meanwhile in the U.S., crude oil inventories increased 1.2 million barrels recently, market sources stated, pointing out data from the American Petroleum Institute. Gas inventory also rose, by 4.6 million barrels, even though the week consisted of Thanksgiving when need generally increases as families travel by car for vacation parties. Authorities data on oil stocks from the U.S. Energy Info Administration is due on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. ET (1530 GMT). Experts polled anticipate a 700,000 barrel decrease in crude and a 639,000 barrel increase in gas. Also supporting costs, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, or OPEC+, will likely extend output cuts up until completion of the first quarter next year when members fulfill on Thursday, market sources informed Reuters. OPEC+. has actually been looking to gradually phase out supply cuts through next. year. The main problem facing any return of OPEC+ supply is that. non-OPEC supply development in 2025 is expected to eclipse the development. in global oil demand, stated Commonwealth Bank of Australia. analyst Vivek Dhar in a note. The International Energy Company anticipates non-OPEC supply. growth, led by the U.S., Canada, Guyana and Brazil, to increase. supply by 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) next year. Global. oil need is only expected to lift about 1 million bpd as. China's oil demand is expected to remain suppressed. In the Middle East, Israel said on Tuesday it would return. to war with Hezbollah if their truce collapses, and its attacks. would go deeper into Lebanon and target the state itself. The. remark followed the most dangerous day because Israel and Hezbollah. accepted a ceasefire recently. In neighbouring Syria, rebels advancing against federal government. forces pushed close on Tuesday to the major city of Hama, rebels. and a war screen said, after their surprise capture of Aleppo. last week.
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Salunda to Equip Transocean Endurance Rig with Monitoring Solution
Salunda, a provider of digitized solutions for safety critical industries, has secured a contract to install its HaloGuard zone monitoring solution on the Transocean Endurance semi-submersible rig in Australia.The award marks Salunda’s first installation of the patented zone monitoring product in Australia and the wider Asia Pacific region.The HaloGuard system, which incorporates Salunda’s patented CrewHawk real-time location technology, combines real-time location technology together with a machine vision system.The technology is designed to locate personnel on the drill floor during operations. When a crew member comes within a certain distance from working equipment, he or she is notified by an alarm through a wearable device. In the event the crew member remains near the equipment, the system can pause the equipment from moving until that worker returns to a safer, more distant position. Additionally, if unauthorized personnel enter the zone, HaloGuard sends an alert directly to the area authority. By enabling machines with the technology to sense and recognize the location of personnel on the drill floor, Haloguard provides an advanced layer of individual protection that can, if needed, warn personnel of hazards and pause operations.(Credit: Salunda)“Our ultimate goal for HaloGuard is to enhance the safety of critical operations. As the oil and gas industry continues to automate, the deployment of advanced technologies that can detect and notify personnel and equipment on the drill floor, and if needed, pause operations, can enhance the safety and improve the efficiency of operations,” said Alan Finlay, Salunda Chief Executive.
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RWE Receives Construction Permits for Polish Offshore Wind Farm
Polish authorities have issued two construction permits to RWE for its Baltic II offshore wind farm.The permits cover construction of offshore wind turbines along with inter-array and telecommunications cables and offshore substation for the 350 MW offshore wind farm.The project is being developed some 50 km offshore in the Polish part of the Baltic Sea, north of the town of Ustka, and covers an area of approx. 41 square km.In 2021, the Energy Regulatory Office granted RWE a Contract for Difference (CfD), subject to approval by the European Commission.Seabed surveys were completed, and both geophysical surveys and preliminary geotechnical surveys were carried out by Polish contractors.The Baltic II offshore wind farm is at an advanced stage of preparation, pending further decisions and administrative approvals, with the commissioning planned by end of decade.“We have obtained the building permits for our offshore wind farm. This is a very important milestone for the whole F.E.W. Baltic II project. We plan to obtain all remaining building permits in the first quarter of 2025. These documents will allow us to continue with our first offshore wind project in the Polish Baltic Sea as planned,” said Tomasz Kreft, Team Lead Offshore Consenting at RWE.
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Iron ore dips as trade tensions between China and US intensify
Iron ore futures costs slid on Wednesday on riskoff sentiment stimulated by the escalation of trade stress between United States and China, although lingering expectations of fresh Chinese financial stimulus topped losses. The most-traded January iron ore agreement on China's Dalian Product Exchange (DCE) ended early morning trade 0.19%. lower at 807 yuan ($ 110.84) a metric load. The benchmark January iron ore on the Singapore. Exchange was 0.67% lower at $104.4 a heap, as of 0405 GMT. China on Tuesday banned exports of crucial minerals gallium,. germanium and antimony that have prevalent armed force. applications to the United States, a day after Washington's. most current crackdown on China's chip sector, escalating trade. tensions. That has actually broadly weighed on investors and traders' cravings,. sending out downward pressure to rates of the crucial steelmaking. ingredient, said experts. However, hopes of more fiscal stimulus from China's upcoming. Central Economic Work Conference limited losses, as the country. is the world's most significant consumer of metals. The market is holding high expectations for incremental. stimulus ... domestic ore need remains resilient, experts at. Sinosteel Futures said in a note. That said, potential customers of growing abroad supply also restricted. the upside capacity for rates, according to experts. Vale, one of the world's biggest iron ore. providers, on Tuesday approximated that it would produce between. 325 million and 335 million lots of iron ore in 2025, compared. with about 328 million heaps this year. Other steelmaking active ingredients on the DCE tumbled, with. coking coal and coke down 3.33% and 3.35%,. respectively. Plentiful supply and a lack of market self-confidence weighed on. prices of coking coal and coke, analysts at Galaxy Futures said. in a note. A lot of steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange lost. ground on lower basic materials rates. Rebar fell 0.96%, hot-rolled coil slipped. 0.79%, wire rod shed 0.98% while stainless-steel. gotten 0.31%.
GRAPHIC-Bear attacks are increasing in Japan. Aging hunters are on the front line.
A gunshot rang out on a recent morning in a meadow in northern Japan. The brown bear plunged in the cage, enjoyed by a handful of city authorities and hunters.
The bear had been wandering around a close-by home and consuming its way through surrounding cornfields, so officials and hunters in Sunagawa city had actually set a trap with a deer carcass to draw the starved animal.
For me, it's constantly a bit deflating when a bear gets caught, Haruo Ikegami, 75, who heads the local hunters' association, informed Reuters hours in advance.
Japan is coming to grips with a growing bear issue. A dwindling band of aging hunters is on the cutting edge.
A record 219 people were victims of bear attacks, 6 of them deadly, in the 12 months through March 2024, while more than 9,000 black and brown bears were trapped and chosen over that duration, according to Japan's environment ministry ( To see the full story, go to )
Both types' habitats have been broadening; the ministry. quotes that the variety of brown bears in Hokkaido, Japan's. northern island, more than doubled to about 11,700 in the 3. years through 2020. (It does not keep quotes on black bears,. most of which live on the main island of Honshu, though a widely. cited 2023 analysis by Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun paper. estimated their numbers at roughly 44,000, a threefold increase. considering that 2012.). Restrictions on searching practices and higher emphasis on. preservation added to a rise in bear sightings over. recent decades, according to Japan's Forest Research and. Management Organisation. With Japan's rural areas experiencing. fast demographic decline, bears are venturing closer to towns. and towns and into deserted farmland, an environment. ministry specialist panel said in February. But bear know-how among local governments is spotty, and. Japan's reliance on leisure hunters to secure settlements. looks unsustainable as its population ages, according to Reuters. interviews with nearly two lots individuals, including professionals,. hunters, officials and locals.
Numerous called for changes to the way Japan handles human-bear. conflict to address safety concerns while ensuring a future for. the bears.
In Hokkaido cities and towns like Sunagawa, Naie, Iwamizawa. and Takikawa, which Reuters checked out in October, some residents. wonder what will take place when hunters can no longer do the job.
Toru Yoshino, a 66-year-old chicken farmer in Sunagawa, stated. he was terrified by a bear that would roam into his farm a. couple of years earlier. As local authorities weighed how to react, they. ultimately counted on the hunters' association, the Sunagawa. Ryoyukai, to neutralise the hazard, he stated.
Sunagawa's local government told Reuters that efforts to. capture the bear were complicated by its proximity to homes and. considerations about what to do as soon as the animal was caught.
Although some hunters stalk bears as a hobby, Ikegami. reckons not many are delighted about culling caught bears for. local governments.
I don't desire individuals to think of hunting as something. fashionable. What we do is difficult. It's a huge concern to take. a life, he said.
The burden is both mental and monetary. The hunter that shot. the bear in Sunagawa would get about 8,000 yen (about $50),. possibly enough to cover fuel and costs however little else,. Ikegami said.
Hunters also run the risk of clashing with authorities. Ikegami's weapons. were taken by Hokkaido authorities in 2019 after they considered. his attempt to shoot a bear near a house was ill-judged. He is. fighting in court to have the weapons returned. The Hokkaido. security officials associated with the matter decreased to attend to. Reuters concerns about the case.
In response to increased bear attacks, Japanese government. authorities this year proposed relaxing guidelines around gun use to. make it much easier for hunters to shoot bears in urban locations.
City governments of Sunagawa, Takikawa and Iwamizawa told. Reuters that local and nationwide authorities could go even more. to deal with the issue. This might include promoting the. recruitment of hunters and improving their conditions, amongst. other ideas.
Japan's environment ministry stated it subsidises efforts to. train regional authorities and carry out bear drills in the areas, but. added that regional distinctions in human-bear conflicts called. for tailor-made approaches. The Hokkaido government's wildlife. bureau stated it ran numerous efforts to incentivise and. recruit hunters, consisting of promotional events and training. people in how to manage brown bears.
Ecological group WWF stated in an email that to preserve. Japan's bear population, authorities should act. including developing human-wildlife buffer zones and formulating. a nationwide defense and management plan. It declined to. comment specifically on the culling of bears in Japan.
While its numbers have been growing in Japan, the Asiatic. black bear is noted as vulnerable on the IUCN's red list of. threatened species globally. The brown bear is noted as least. concern.
AGING
Bear hunting was financially rewarding till the 1980s, and conceal and. bile were traded for high costs. However with growing ecological. awareness and modifications to regulations and customer tastes, the. practice has fallen out of favour.
Japan provided some 218,500 searching licences in the 2020. , less than half of the 517,800 it released in 1975,. according to official information. While about 98% of those provided in. 1975 were for shooting, that figure dropped to 42% in 2020, the. latest data. The remaining licences are for trapping. About. 60% of licence holders were aged over 60, according to 2020. information.
Searching is pricey, unattractive, and exhausting, the. hunters state.
Traps require to be examined daily while bears prowl nearby. Rifle owners must follow Japan's stringent guns laws and. buy ammo and weapon storage.
Those troubles came to a head previously this year in Naie,. where hunter Tatsuhito Yamagishi, 72, implicated the local. government of taking hunters for given, without purchasing a. longer-term service.
As soon as we grow old and have no option however to give up, this. reliance on the hunters' association is not going to work,. Yamagishi stated.
Naie's local government declined to discuss the dispute. with Yamagishi but said authorities were taking actions to resolve. the bear issue, including working with certified hunters from. outside the area.
Some professionals, consisting of Koji Yamazaki, a professor at Tokyo. University of Agriculture who studies bears, stated depopulation. and a decrease in the quantity of managed farmland in current. decades may have led bears to end up being bolder about approaching. towns. Clearer demarcation between habitats would help human beings. and bears coexist, he said.
Yoshikazu Sato, professor of farming at Rakuno Gakuen. University, said bears appeared to be raising cubs closer to. human settlements, causing young bears not to fear people as. much as previously. Climate change-driven shifts in the ripening and. flowering of fruits, nuts and leaves may drive bears to rob. crops when their usual food sources are low, he included.
What we require is a daily, constant effort to make sure. that bears don't get in human locations, Sato said.
BEAST WOLF
Katsuo Harada, an 84-year-old hunter, stated that ultimately,. Japan ought to create a system where hunters are paid enough to. support a household. Unless they're paid correctly, we can't. support the next generation of hunters, he stated.
Harada brings the scars of a bear attack more than twenty years. ago, when the animal sank its teeth into his skull.
It sounded like it was munching on some raw radish, he. said.
He battled the bear, and his searching buddies called for. aid. The subsequent surgery took 16 hours, he stated.
Harada is now part of a non-profit organisation, Farming. Assistance Hokkaido, that assists neighborhoods keep troublesome. wildlife at bay.
If I do not keep doing my job, there might fall,. Harada stated.
Japan's environment ministry in September cautioned about the. possibility of a rise in bear attacks towards year-end, when. the animals typically scavenge for food to accumulate fat for. hibernation. In 2023, bear sightings and attacks peaked in. October, according to main information. With Japan's population aging and shrinking, some companies are. turning to technology to manage bears.
Propped on four rods, the Beast Wolf robot sold by. Sapporo-based Wolf Kamuy releases grumbles, barks and risks from a. loudspeaker, triggered by a sensing unit.
Priced at about 400,000 yen (approximately $2,550) and powered by. solar power, the gleaming-eyed beast has demonstrated some. success in warding off bears, though its sensor can be triggered. by other animals, said business vice-president Yuji Ohta.
However Yamagishi, the hunter in Naie, stated it takes years of. analysing pawprints and dung and discovering to read bears' indications. to comprehend how to trap them, including that human knowledge will. remain essential to managing the problem.
Yamagishi believes it would take three to 5 years to train. a new generation of hunters.
Already, we'll all be retired, he stated.
(source: Reuters)