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Tragedy strikes Buxton MD

BUXTON Resources has announced its managing director Anthony Maslin will take indefinite personal leave after the deaths of his three children.

Maslin's children Mo, Evie and Otis and their grandfather Nick Norris were passengers on Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 when it was shot down over the Eastern Ukraine on Thursday.

Buxton said in the immediate term, its other board members and company officers, led by chairman Seamus Cornelius, would be responsible for the day-to-day operation of the explorer.

Maslin has been MD of Buxton since 2010 and is also a director of Pancontinental Oil & Gas.

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Slater & Gordon launch Newcrest class action

LAW firm Slater & Gordon has lodged court documents, starting a class action against Newcrest Mining for alleged misleading and deceptive conduct and breach of continuous disclosure obligations.

Last year Slater & Gordon indicated it would be starting a claim against Newcrest on behalf of shareholders.

Proceedings were issued in the Victorian District Registry of the Federal Court of Australia yesterday.

The claim relates to Newcrest's guidance downgrade and asset write-downs announced to the market on June 7 last year.

Newcrest recently settled a case with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, paying a $A1.2 million fine for contravention of its continuous disclosure obligations between May 28 and June 7, 2013.

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Newcrest flags massive write-downs

NEWCREST Mining bettered its full-year guidance for production, costs and spending, but its strong results were overshadowed by an expected asset impairment of up to $A2.5 billion, mostly related to the Lihir mine in Papua New Guinea.

The annual review of asset carrying values is focusing on a review of the operating cost assumptions for Lihir, a review of exchange rate assumptions in the wake of a strong Australian dollar, particularly in relation to Telfer in Western Australia, and an assessment of timing, cost and resource utilisation in relation to Bonikro in Ivory Coast.

Newcrest said the board considered it likely that the review would result in an impairment of the carrying value of the assets of $1.5-2.5 billion after tax, which is in addition to the $47 million write-down of the west African exploration assets from the December 2013 half-year results.

It comes after $6.2 billion in write-downs in its 2013 financial year results.

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KPMG sees growth in mining

KPMG has acquired boutique resources consultancy Momentum Partners, creating the largest hub of mining professionals within the firm's global network.

Momentum founder, majority shareholder and managing partner Carl Adams will join KPMG next Friday as a partner and Australian mining head based in Perth.

The bulk of Momentum's 28 staff across Australia will also join KPMG, including Sabina Shugg, who was recently named as one of the 100 global inspirational women in mining.

KPMG Australia CEO Gary Wingrove said that since being appointed as CEO last year, he'd rolled out a new strategy and identified areas where KPMG wanted to grow.

Wingrove said the company saw "medium-term significant opportunities" in the mining space.

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Boart rallies on assurance

DESPITE being downgraded by Standard and Poor's Rating Services, shares in embattled drilling provider Boart Longyear rose sharply today as the company moved to calm market concerns over its liquidity.

S&P downgraded the company's corporate credit rating to CCC from CCC+, its secured note rating from B to B- and its unsecured note rating to CCC from CCC+.

Boart CEO Richard O'Brien said the action did not impact any of the company's bank covenants and put ratings on par with Moody's.

"We recognise that the recent downgrades by the ratings agencies may present concerns for our creditors and other stakeholders and we are committed to addressing those concerns as promptly as possible through the completion of the strategic review of recapitalisation options we previously announced and continue to actively pursue," he said.

Earlier this month, Boart was forced to deny its review had been unsuccessful and it was heading for administration.

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