Ausdrill investors urged to reject King

Pressure is mounting on shareholders to reject the reappointment of Wal King to Ausdrill's board after the Australian Shareholders Association questioned his position at the company in light of allegations of corruption during his tenure as chief executive of Leighton, according to The Australian.

Leading proxy adviser CGI Glass Lewis has also taken the unusual step of abstaining from voting on King's board position because of allegations in Fairfax Media publications that he was aware of kickbacks being paid by Leighton as part of an Iraqi pipeline deal.

China source of firm's first UCG revenue

Brisbane-based Carbon Energy has received its first revenue from the commercial deployment of its underground coal gasification technology, according to The Australian.

But it is coming all the way from China, not from its Bloodwood Creek project in Queensland, where the need to clear regulatory hurdles for the development of a UCG industry is still being worked on.

POSCO puts up Roy Hill stake as collateral

South Korea’s POSCO has reportedly offered its 12.5% stake in Gina Rinehart’s Roy Hill Holdings as collateral for the $10 billion Pilbara iron ore project as the company seeks to secure funding before the end of the year, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

The steel maker reportedly offered its stake to credit agencies in Korea, Japan and the United States.

The announcement came after Roy Hill shareholders contributed $624 million in the September quarter to underpin further development of the project in the Pilbara.

Roy Hill is 70% owned by Hancock. The remainder is split between POSCO, Japan’s Marubeni and Taiwanese steelmaker China Steel Corporation.

It is in the process of arranging $7 billion in debt funding for the project by its end of year deadline.