BHP iron ore output beats, copper production edges up on better grades at Escondida
Global miner BHP beat first-quarter iron ore output estimates on Thursday, spurred by easing of bottlenecks at its Western Australia operations amid efforts by China to revive its grappling property market and faltering economic growth.The world’s largest listed miner over the last year has ramped up the South Flank mine to full production capacity and streamlined its port operations for its Western Australian iron ore business.
Colombia mining group warns government decree puts sector at risk
Colombia’s mining association warned on Thursday that the sector was at risk of being paralyzed by legal uncertainty, after a government decree published this year gave authorities the ability to establish so-called temporary environmental zones.The decree allows Colombia’s environment ministry to declare areas as natural resource reserve zones for a five-year period, which can be renewed.
ABB has at least $1 billion to spend on M&A, CFO says
ABB at least $1 billion to spend on deals as it looks to boost its revenues by being more active in M&A, chief financial officer Timo Ihamuotila said on Thursday.The Swiss engineering firm said it would target smaller and mid-sized companies but did not rule out larger deals.“It’s fair to say that we have not allocated that much capital on acquisitions during the last few years, but we would expect that to go up,” said Timo Ihamuotila after ABB reported mixed third-quarter results.