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Rinehart mine backs away from foreign worker plan

Sue Lannin
Thu Jun 13, 2013

The boss of Gina Rinehart's multi-billion dollar Roy Hill iron ore project has backed away from the use of foreign workers on 457 visas.

Barry Fitzgerald says the economy has slowed down and the project may no longer need to employ overseas workers under a Federal Government agreement set up last year.

Mr Fitzgerald was speaking at a suppliers' briefing in Perth last night that was attended by nearly 2,000 contractors.

There was controversy when the Federal Government granted Roy Hill the first Enterprise Migration Agreement, allowing it to hire just over 1,700 overseas workers on 457 visas to work on construction.

Mr Fitzgerald told the briefing more than 8,000 workers will be needed to construct the Pilbara mine, as well as railway and port facilities.

"We want to award all of the contracts by the end of June. That will give us certainty," he said.

But Mr Fitzgerald believes he may no longer need to look overseas.

"When we started this project some years ago, the market was a lot warmer and at that time we needed to be able to demonstrate that we had an opportunity to manage the risk of not being able to get experienced, capable resources. So we signed up and started the EMA process," he said.

"Since that time things have moved on. We are now confident that we will in fact secure the bulk of our workforce, or our contractors will, through the Australian labour market."

Read more: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-13/roy-hill-scrapping-foreign-worker-plan/4750964

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Rinehart clears Roy Hill hurdles: report

Mining magnate Gina Rinehart's $9.5 billion Roy Hill iron ore project has overcome key hurdles holding up debt negotiations, which could enable the mine to start producing by September 2015, sources said.

Export credit agencies including Export Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM), Japan Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC) and Nippon Export & Investment Insurance (NEXI) had been pressuring Roy Hill shareholders led by Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting to fully guarantee that the project reaches completion, in return for up to $US5 billion of loans.

The export credit agencies also sought payment guarantees for ore purchase contracts by Chinese steel mills, said a banking source familiar with the talks.

The parties have now negotiated a compromise to break the deadlock that had threatened to delay the project further in Western Australia’s iron-rich Pilbara region.

“Although a guarantee from a party with strong credit would be one of the simplest ways to move the project forward in the eyes of the ECAs, it is not the only way to reduce risks,” said a second source with direct knowledge of the negotiations.

“Such ways have been sufficiently agreed upon, and negotiations are moving ahead speedily,” added the source, without elaborating on the agreement.

Thanks to the quality of Roy Hill’s ore and relatively low cost base, prices are not the overriding concern for lenders.

Read more: http://www.afr.com/p/business/companies/rinehart_clears_roy_hill_hurdles_TGHtzj0hrb4OVdkF4FxujK

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ANZ to pump $1bn into Rinehart’s Roy Hill mine

ANZ has provided up to $US1 billion in bridging finance for Gina Rinehart’s $10 billion Roy Hill iron ore project, easing the pressure on the billionaire to fund construction with her own money.

The bridging facility was agreed to in recent months as part of efforts by Mrs Rinehart’s private company, ­Hancock Prospecting, to secure $4 billion in debt for Roy Hill from export credit agencies. These negotiations have dragged on too.

Hancock wants to raise an additional $3 billion or so in debt from commercial banks for Roy Hill, making it the biggest mining project finance deal in history. ANZ’s bridging finance is viewed as an audacious bid by the bank to win as much of the deal as possible.

“It’s a pretty gutsy play by ANZ because if the funding doesn’t emerge, their only collateral will be a partially built project,” said one source about the funding.

“That’s risky, right. That’s not even project financing. There’s huge aggression to come in on that commercial tranche.”

A bank spokeswoman would not comment on customer matters. Roy Hill spokesman Darryl Hockey said Hancock’s equity partners “continued to provide sufficient funds to allow us to progress the project”.

Read more: http://www.afr.com/p/business/companies/anz_to_pump_bn_into_rinehart_roy_klCmTCPiEE9eSGb7xQEa1L

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Gina Rinehart's Roy Hill project at risk after Labor inaction on jobs

by: ANDREW BURRELL
August 29, 2013 12:00AM

GINA Rinehart's bid to build a $9.5 billion iron ore project in Western Australia is being jeopardised by the Rudd government's failure to grant her approval to import up to 1700 foreign workers in the face of a union backlash.

The billionaire has been lobbying the government for the past 15 months to finalise a labour agreement as "surety" for nervous lenders concerned her planned Roy Hill project will be unable to source thousands of workers it needs in Australia.

Then immigration minister Chris Bowen announced in May last year that the government had reached an in-principle deal with Roy Hill that he said would be finalised “shortly”.

Mr Bowen’s announcement sparked a backlash from unions and some Labor MPs, who questioned why the government would allow Mrs Rinehart – Australia’s richest person with a fortune of more than $20 billion – to bring in foreign workers under an EMA.

The Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union has spent $1 million during the election campaign on national advertising that portrays the Coalition as supporting policies that favour overseas workers at the expense of locals.

Read more: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/gina-rineharts-roy-hill-project-at-risk-after-labor-inaction-on-jobs/story-fn59niix-1226706116103