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‘Party's over' for iron ore miners

AFTER a trip to China, ANZ Research says iron ore demand is worse than expected and has slashed its forecasts, saying prices won't return to above $US100 per tonne.

ANZ head of commodity research Mark Pervan said the "party's over for iron ore" after returning from a marketing trip to China to visit steel mills and traders.

He said the mood was cautious with participants seeing little upside in the near-term and a more muted outlook for the Chinese domestic housing market.

ANZ said the super profits enjoyed by iron ore miners over the past few years were over and the dynamic of large, low-cost producers bedding down market share had come 2-3 years ahead of expectation.

Majors BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto have been accused of "flooding" the market with supply to squeeze out smaller players.

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Morning Star collapses

AFTER more than two years of uncertainty, Morning Star Gold has been placed in administration.

Sule Arnautovic and Glenn Anthony Crisp of Jirsch Sutherland were appointed as joint and several administrators on Saturday.

Shares in Melbourne-based Morning Star have been suspended from trading on the Australian Securities Exchange since June 2012.

The company ran into trouble back then when its major shareholder Chillee terminated $A10 million in funding.

Despite having just $5000 in the bank at the end of June 2013, Morning Star spent $528,000 on administration costs during the 2014 financial year.

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BHP suspends Venus development

ONLY a day after shelving the sale of its Nickel West unit, BHP Billiton has suspended development of the high-grade nickel Venus discovery at Leinster, resulting in job losses.

The divestment of the business was scrapped after the company failed to secure an acceptable price and as a result, Nickel West will remain in the BHP portfolio for now as a non-core asset.

The Venus nickel sulphide deposit, discovered in 2012, had been slated for development, but it now appears the project won't get off the ground while in the BHP stable.

A BHP spokeswoman confirmed to MiningNews.net this morning that the Venus project was "discontinued"

"Given intense competition for capital within BHP Billiton there is unlikely to be further investment in the business beyond sustaining capital to ensure Nickel West continues to deliver safe and efficient production (this includes Venus)," she said.

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BHP scraps Nickel West sale

BHP Billiton has withdrawn the sale of its non-core Nickel West business after failing to secure an acceptable sale price.

In a statement the company said the preferred option - the sale of the business - had not been "achieved on an acceptable basis"

A likely sticking point for potential buyers was the more than $A1 billion in environmental liabilities, plus the more than $1.5 billion in capital expenditure the starved business required.

Adding to that is the fact that the Kalgoorlie smelter is running below capacity and nickel prices have collapsed from 2014 highs.

BHP said it only would pursue options that maximise value for shareholders.

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Hancock vows to fight Roy Hill challenge

GINA Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting will vigorously defend a challenge to the $A10 billion Roy Hill iron ore project in the Federal Court of Australia.

Rinehart's estranged children, John Hancock and Bianca Rinehart, have launched fresh legal action, challenging the ownership of Hancock Prospecting.

Hancock Prospecting's key assets are stakes in the Hope Downs iron ore mine and the Roy Hill project, which is under development.

In a hearing in Sydney yesterday, lawyers for Hancock Prospecting and Gina Rinehart reportedly said details of the case should remain suppressed for commercial reasons.

According to AAP, Hancock Prospecting QC John Sheahan said there was "real risk of commercial harm" if details of the case were made public.

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