Gina Rinehart’s biggest year is beginning

The biggest story in the Australian mining sector in 2015 will be Gina Rinehart, according to the Australian Financial Review.

And that is for one very simple reason: this is the year she will finally become a miner in her own right.

In September, the first shipment of iron ore is expected to leave Rinehart’s Roy Hill mine in the Pilbara – arguably the crowning moment of her career.

Canada transparency laws force ASX companies to disclose tax bills

Two Australian mining companies will be forced to disclose how much tax they pay in every country around the world by new transparency laws introduced in Canada, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Paladin Energy and OceanaGold, both dual-listed in Australia and Canada, will have to comply with new Canadian laws requiring all oil, gas and mining companies to report payments they make to governments overseas, including taxes, royalties, bonuses, regulatory charges and licence fees.

The Australian government is being pushed to introduce similar rules.

India’s oil refineries boom on price slump

Oil’s slump has almost doubled the value of India’s big, state-owned refiners, outpacing the rest of the industry from China to the US, according to the Australian Financial Review.

The companies had been forced to make a large proportion of sales at below cost for over a decade. Now, they can profit from fuels after India’s new government saw its opportunity in falling oil prices to deregulate the market without bothering its inflation targets.

OPEC’s decision to sit on its hands in the face of an oil glut has only accelerated share gains.