Griffin Coal’s Indian owner optimistic about tax debt settlement

The Indian owner of miner Griffin Coal, operator of coal mines in Western Australia’s South West, says it remains committed to its Australian operations despite a move to have the company liquidated over a $13.9 million tax debt, according to the Australian Financial Review.

The assurance yesterday follows reports the same day revealing a move by the Australian Taxation Office to appoint a liquidator over the Lanco Infratech-owned Griffin.

Lanco said in a statement: “No winding-up order has been issued against Griffin, and Griffin remains confident that there is no basis for winding up and that the matter with the ATO will be resolved as soon as possible.”

Liquidation, if it proceeded, would put about 275 jobs at risk and endanger coal supplies to the nearby Bluewaters Power Station, the big energy generator in the region.

Fortescue Metals, Evolution join list of miners cutting jobs

More jobs are being cut from the Australian mining industry, Fortescue Metals Group and gold producer Evolution Mining the latest to shed workers, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

About 100 contractors employed by engineering firm Downer EDI will cease working at Fortescue's Christmas Creek iron ore operation in Western Australia over the next few days, after changes to processing equipment on site.

Fortescue has recently been upgrading its processing equipment at Christmas Creek and the improvements mean that certain other purification methods are no longer required.

A spokesman from Downer EDI said about 100 of the 1200 contractors on site would be made redundant.

A spokesman for Fortescue said the changes were linked to the recent processing upgrades.

Bears circle as Aussie is tipped to slide

More bears have joined the downgrading party against the dollar, with a major investment bank expecting the currency to fall to US75¢ in 12 months as enthusiasm for what was once dubbed the “Goldilocks economy” grows cold, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

The revised forecast from Credit Suisse came as Reserve Bank deputy governor Philip Lowe said governor Glenn Stevens' comments about Tuesday's board meeting – which sent the dollar sliding down half a cent – were “light-hearted” and had been misinterpreted by financial markets and the media.

Stevens' quip on Wednesday that the Reserve Bank had ''deliberated for a very long time'' about its rates decision and Mr Lowe's clarification yesterday led to one of the quickest interest rate forecast revisions.

ANZ economists yesterday withdrew their August rate cut expectations after factoring in a further easing for next month on Wednesday afternoon, saying their initial revision was based on what turned out to be “'off-the-cuff humour”' from Stevens.