Tinkler surprises with $150m deal to buy Peabody’s Wilkie Creek mine
Nathan Tinkler has made a surprise return to the coal market, buying Peabody Energy’s Wilkie Creek mine in Queensland in a $150 million deal, according to The Australian.
The former Newcastle electrician, who once topped the BRW Young Rich List, said he first viewed the asset 18 months ago but the market had since turned and the sale price was now attractive.
His re-entry into the market will shock some following his high-profile downfall, which forced him to sell his Whitehaven Coal stake last year for about half of what it was valued at when he obtained it in 2011.
Tinkler said he would like to put Wilkie Creek, which has approval to produce 2.5 million tonnes of coal, back into production by the end of the year.
Mining industry let off stamp-duty payments in New South Wales
Legal changes to ensure stamp-duty is paid when mining companies and property developers sell rights they have over land have been scrapped by the NSW government after almost a year to allow “further consultation with industry and professional bodies”, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
A bill containing the changes was introduced on behalf of then treasurer Mike Baird in May last year by Dubbo MP Troy Grant, who was then parliamentary secretary for natural resources.
“For stamp-duties purposes, mining tenements have historically been regarded as interests in the land over which they are granted,” Grant told the Parliament.
However, recent developments in the law have resolved that mining tenements are not interests in land but statutory licenses.
Angry Aurizon workers consider taking action
Aurizon workers are considering industrial action against the rail operator in its home state of Queensland after the company approached Fair Work Australia to terminate its enterprise agreements, unions have warned, according to the Australian Financial Review.
“It’s caused enormous anger. . . they’ve certainly alienated the workforce,” said Owen Doogan, Queensland state secretary for the Rail, Tram and Bus Union, which represents more than 3000 Aurizon employees.
The union was not ruling out industrial action, Doogan added.
