Glencore’s failed environmental repair job creates concrete creek

Contractors working for coal giant Glencore Xstrata pumped more than 180 tonnes of concrete into a tributary of Cockle Creek at Lake Macquarie, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

The concrete creek, uncovered as part of an investigation into mine subsidence at the state conservation area, stretches more than 400m down a hillside and dries up less than 1km from Cockle Creek, which leads to Lake Macquarie.

In some places it is more than 1m deep and 5m wide.

A worker who had been involved in the remediation project described the creek grouting as an “absolute catastrophe”

Roy Hill partners chip in further $185m

Gina Rinehart’s partners in the $10 billion Roy Hill iron ore project in Western Australia have injected fresh equity into the venture to keep early works progressing while talks over crucial debt funding drag on, according to the Australian Financial Review.

The partners – Japan’s Marubeni, Korean conglomerate Posco and Taiwan’s China Steel Corporation – are not obliged to contribute more equity to Roy Hill until $7.82 billion in debt funding for the project is locked away.

But documents registered with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission yesterday indicate that an extra $185 million has been tipped into joint venture company Roy Hill Holdings in the past two weeks.

Rio admits African delays

Rio Tinto has delayed targeted production from the $22.4 billion Simandou iron ore project in Guinea by three years, as African development plans hatched during the boom years continue to drift, according to The Australian.

It is understood the Simandou partners – Rio, China's Chalco and the World Bank – have signed a draft agreement with the Guinea government that says first exports are now not expected until the end of 2018.