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Flanagan laments brutal iron ore industry

ATLAS Iron chairman David Flanagan has hit out at a number of parties for making the iron ore sector such a tough space.

Flanagan's speech to the WA Mining Club in Perth on Friday came only a day after the weak iron ore price forced Atlas to sack 80 "really good people"

"We've had a tough week at Atlas," Flanagan said.

"It's a tough industry and the downturn we're experiencing - and I feel like I'm experiencing it in truckloads - it's all part of the cycle."

BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto have been accused by WA Premier Colin Barnett and Fortescue Metals Group of flooding the market with iron ore supply to push junior producers out.

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BHP's NewCo becomes South32

BHP Billiton unveiled the name and branding of its spin-off, calling the new company South32.

The company said the name reflected the southern hemisphere focus with the two main bases - Australia and South Africa - linked by the 32nd parallel south line of latitude.

The basis for the name was suggested by an employee, while the logo represents the diversity of the company's portfolio and employees.

South32 CEO-elect Graham Kerr said the naming of the company was a major step in its setup.

"Our heritage and the places in which we operate are an important part of our identity," he said.

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Majors still driving greenfields exploration

NEW research on the exploration habits of the major miners has returned some surprising results.

SNL Metals & Mining's 25th annual Corporate Exploration Study found that 39 large miners budgeted $US4.3 billion ($A5.2 billion) on exploration in 2014, or 40% of the total $10.7 billion global exploration total.

Gold represented 41% of the majors' total expenditure, followed by copper with 32% (or 41% for all base metals), and 7% each for diamonds and "other", which comprises silver, potash, phosphates and manganese.

The 25 largest players with gold exploration budgets accounted for 39% of worldwide gold exploration, while copper majors were responsible for just over half of global spend.

Surprisingly, large miners accounted for 40% of global greenfields exploration.

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Silver Lake sale falls through

THE sale of Silver Lake Resources' mothballed Lakewood mill near Kalgoorlie has fallen through after the buyer failed to arrange finance in time.

The deal with an unnamed private consortium was sealed in late October, but hinged on a six week due diligence and financing period that expired last week.

With the sale now terminated, Silver Lake said it was considering its options for the mill and associated infrastructure.

As part of these efforts, it said it would look to re-engage with parties that previously expressed an interest in acquiring the assets.

The unnamed consortium previously committed to paying $A5.5 million in cash for Lakewood.

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Metal prices hamper Anglo turnaround

ANGLO American will divest assets and reduce its global headcount by 60,000 over the next two years as it battles to meet its targets in the wake of lower metal prices.

Since Australian Mark Cutifani took over as CEO of the London-based miner last year, the company has been aiming for a 15% return on capital employed (ROCE) by 2016.

Based on commodity prices from mid-2013, the company is on track to achieve that goal by generating an additional $US4 billion in earnings before interest and tax.

However, metal prices are lower now and the outlook is flat.

"Current market consensus prices for 2016 lead us to a 12% ROCE in 2016 and we are intensifying our efforts to identify the implied additional $2 billion of EBIT necessary to increase ROCE to 15%," Cutifani told the company's investor day.

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