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Port Hedland harbour. Pilbara Ports Authority

MiningCommentsPremiumIron ore giants keep mining as vicious weather looms

WA’s iron ore giants have no plans to halt mining as cyclone Narelle menaces the State’s North West, while one major port even opted not to clear its harbour in a ‘highly unusual’ move.

Adrian Rauso

Electrical Trades Union Secretary Adam Woodage speaks to the media today outside BHP HQ. Yesterday, the union voted in favour of industrial action by electrical workers at BHP's Pilbara mining operations.

MiningCommentsPremiumBHP strike to be ‘the first of many’, union warns

The union spearheading strikes at BHP’s iron ore mines warns they will be ‘the first of many’ to sweep through WA’s resources heartland.

Adrian Rauso and Jessica Page

Fenix says it is taking steps to scale back non-essential activity at the company’s mining and haulage operations. 

MiningCommentsPremiumIron ore miner scales back operations amid fuel shortage

An iron ore miner has warned that a lack of fuel supply is ‘beginning to impact operations’ and the pain is being exacerbated by cyclone Narelle. 

Adrian Rauso

Andrew Forrest said Beijing should focus on working with miners.

MiningCommentsPremium‘Poke the bear’: Twiggy blasts China ‘cartel’ price tactics

Fortescue founder Andrew Forrest is the first leader among Australia’s iron ore giants to publicly rebuke China’s state-run iron buyer for its tactics aimed at pushing down prices of the key commodity.

Adrian Rauso

High-voltage workers have a list of demands including 200 per cent penalty rates for overtime and 300 per cent for public holiday work.

MiningCommentsPremiumBHP workers vote for first Pilbara strike in 30-plus years

Unions have officially stormed the gates of WA’s mining industry after workers voted to go on strike for the first time this century, putting an end to nearly four decades of industrial peace in the Pilbara.

Adrian Rauso

Andrew Forrest says China needs to ‘step away from that gun fight’

MiningComments‘Poke the bear’: Twiggy blasts China ‘cartel’ price tactics

Fortescue founder Andrew Forrest is the first leader among Australia’s iron ore giants to publicly rebuke China’s state-run iron buyer for its tactics aimed at pushing down prices of the key commodity. 

Adrian Rauso

Fortescue chairman Andrew Forrest says China shouldn’t ‘poke the bear’.

MiningCommentsPremium‘Poke the bear’: Twiggy blasts China ‘cartel’ price tactics

Fortescue founder Andrew Forrest says China’s state-backed iron buyer shouldn’t ‘poke the bear’ and must quit using tactics aimed at negotiating lower prices for the key steel ingredient.

Paul-Alain Hunt, Katharine Gemmell and Stephen Engle

Brandon Craig will be the new CEO of BHP

updated
updated
MiningCommentsPremium
updated
BHP taps former WA iron ore boss to succeed Henry as CEO

The world’s biggest miner has announced its chief executive will step down after more than six years for a replacement seen as ‘evolutionary’ rather than ‘transformational’.

Adrian Rauso and Tom Richardson

The Lamb Creek iron ore project this month.

The West Australian exclusive
The West Australian exclusive
MiningCommentsPremium
The West Australian exclusive
MinRes brings online WA’s first iron ore mine of 2026

WA has its first new iron ore mine this year after Mineral Resources shipped maiden ore from its Lamb Creek project three months after breaking ground.

Adrian Rauso

The mills have about one week to move stockpiles at ports to their factories, and a similar timeframe to take Newman ores that have already been delivered.

MiningCommentsPremiumChina eases ban on BHP iron ore amid price rises

China’s state-backed iron ore trader has told steel mills that it’s temporarily easing restrictions on one of BHP’s grades, after worries over a broadening of bans sent prices rising this week.

Alfred Cang

BHP boss Mike Henry.

MiningCommentsPremiumInvestors lose faith in BHP staving off China

Investors have lost confidence in BHP’s ability to emerge victorious from an iron ore trade dispute with China after key products were added to a growing ban list.

Adrian Rauso

The cargo container-sized smelting units will initially process ore from Metal Logic’s freshly acquired tenements, with the view to treating material supplied by the majors.

ManufacturingPremiumLego-style smelters ready to fire up WA’s green steel dream

WA’s green steel dream will be put to its first real test in coming months after a company promoting a Lego-style smelting operation put its foot on a slab of iron-rich tenements in the Pilbara.

Ben Harvey

A cargo ship unloads imported iron ore at the Qingdao Port ore terminal in Qingdao, Shandong Province, China.

MiningPremiumIron ore miners get price boost from Iran War

WA’s iron ore miners are benefiting from the worsening conflict in the Middle East, with rival cargoes diverted mid-voyage to East Asia as war chokes one of the world’s most critical shipping lanes.

Katharine Gemmell and Adrian Rauso

The ETU’s landmark move is the latest escalation of a broader union campaign to re-gain a foothold in the Pilbara’s iron ore mines after decades of dormancy. 

MiningCommentsPremiumWA miners set to walk off job for first time this century

Unions are on the cusp of having workers go on strike in WA’s mining heartland for the first time this century. 

Adrian Rauso

The CMRG meeting held in Beijing on Wednesday last week.

MiningCommentsPremiumWhy this Beijing meeting is bad news for every West Aussie

The organisation menacing the bedrock of WA’s economy has officially cemented its status as a key part of China’s political apparatus. 

Adrian Rauso

The CSIRO and Indian Institute of Science have been working together on the technology. (HANDOUT/CSIRO)

Iron orePremiumRice could be key ingredient to cutting steel emissions

Steel producers could cut carbon emissions in half by substituting agricultural waste for coal in its production, a world-first trial has found.

Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson

Rio Tinto's Paraburdoo mine site. Tom Zaunmayr.

MiningCommentsPremiumPilbara miners face 180-day shutdown if heat rules imposed

Unions want Pilbara mine workers to down tools during hot weather, a demand the industry says ‘ignores’ reality.

Adrian Rauso

“Member companies have not reported disruptions to their operations or concerns about the availability of fuel at this stage,” Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA chief Aaron Morey said on Monday. 

MiningPremiumNo fuel concerns ‘at this stage’, say WA’s mining lobby

WA’s well-stocked miners have not revealed any immediate concern about access to diesel supplies powering scores of rail and haulage fleets, but are staying alert to how conflict in the Middle East plays out. 

Simone Grogan

Gold Fields built a solar farm to power its Granny Smith gold mine near Laverton.

EnergyPremiumFortescue kicks off construction of WA’s biggest solar farm

Fortescue has turned the sod on a massive new solar farm in the Pilbara in the latest of a raft of new energy projects to get the Andrew Forrest-led miner to its 2030 emissions deadline.

Simone Grogan

--FILE--Iron ore at a Chinese port. (Photo by Imaginechina via AFP)

MiningPremiumBHP taps SEA market amid China’s iron ore stockpile record

China is hoarding more iron ore than ever as it ramps up pricing pressure on BHP, with the mining giant looking to steel mills in South East Asia for respite.

Adrian Rauso

BHP's Jimblebar iron ore mine.

MiningCommentsPremium‘No new cargoes’: China presses steel mills on BHP ore

China’s state-backed iron ore buyer has summoned traders and urged them to refrain from buying new BHP cargoes to sell to buyers after they were found to be flouting a restriction on the purchases.

Katharine Gemmell and Alfred Cang

The move is aimed at improving the overall health of the industry by targeting its chronic overcapacity.

MiningCommentsPremiumIron ore rises as Beijing vows to back in steel sector

Iron ore rose as China renewed a pledge to tackle overcapacity in its world-leading steel sector and set a widely anticipated economic growth target for the year ahead.

Katharine Gemmell

Matt Holcz

WaterCommentsPremiumRio, Water Corp go halves to double Pilbara water plant

Rio Tinto and the State Government will both bear the cost of doubling the capacity of a $1.1 billion Pilbara desalination plant as the mining giant looks to reduce its burden on precious water supplies. 

Simone Grogan

Port of Ashburton in Onslow

MiningPremiumPPA ordered to hand over docs in MinRes channel fee barney

Pilbara Ports Authority will be required to pull together and hand over a year’s worth of documents illuminating how it landed on charging Mineral Resources millions of dollars in dues the miner refuses to pay.

Simone Grogan