Vale will open big cost gap on Fortescue Metals, says Citi

Citigroup believes that despite Fortescue Metals Group's race to crunch its production costs, the miner will inevitably become the marginal producer of the large iron ore players once Brazil's Vale brings its new mega expansion project online, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Both Vale and Fortescue need a benchmark price of about $US40 a tonne to break even while BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto require about $20/t, Citigroup analyst Alexander Hacking said.

Those breakevens – the price at which the miners are not making or losing cash – have been calculated on an earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation basis.

BHP Billiton accused of blocking development in Port Hedland

Mining giant BHP Billiton has owned at least four vacant properties in Port Hedland's West End for more than a decade, in what critics believe is an attempt to stymie plans to transform the industrial precinct into a cafe and upmarket apartment strip, according to the Australian Financial Review.

The analysis of BHP's property holdings comes amid heated debate about development in and around the country's busiest port that has pitted those who want to see a marina, cafe strip and luxurious accommodation match the iron ore riches that flow through the town at odds with those concerned it will disrupt key port activities crucial to the wealth of the nation.

Rosatom sells Honeymoon uranium mine in South Australia

Russia's state-owned nuclear energy company Rosatom has finally lost patience with the Honeymoon uranium project in northern South Australia and is selling it off to an ASX-listed minnow called Boss Resources, according to the Australian Financial Review.

Honeymoon is one of the five Australian uranium mines in Australia, four of which are located in South Australia, but it has been in mothballs for the past two years because of the plunge in uranium prices which made it uneconomic to continue mining from the site.