Ex-Tinkler Group exec heads bid for part of Rio Tinto's coal

Nathan Tinkler's former right-hand man Scott Winter is spearheading a potential bid for parts of Rio Tinto's Australian coal portfolio, according to the Australian Financial Review.

It is understood Winter, who was most recently general manager of mining at the Tinkler Group, has teamed up with a handful of Indonesian and other Asian parties to study some of Rio's Hunter Valley coal assets, including the Mount Pleasant project.

Newcastle joins fossil fuel divestment push

Newcastle, home of the world's biggest coal port, has joined the global fossil fuels divestment push after the city's council voted on Tuesday night to exit holdings in the big four banks if they continue to fund fossil fuels projects, according to the Australian Financial Review.

About 80% of the City of Newcastle Council's $270 million investment portfolio is held in the big four banks, mostly through term deposits. Those investments are spread evenly across the big four.

WDS in financial distress

A contractor to some of Australia's biggest energy and mining companies was in financial distress on Wednesday evening, after a larger than expected full year loss breached debt covenants, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

WDS, which has recently worked on all three of the Gladstone LNG projects as well as on coal mines for South32, Glencore, Yancoal, Peabody and Vale, went into a trading halt on Wednesday pending an announcement about a “contractual issue” with a customer.