Forrest pursues new opportunities in minerals and energy

Andrew Forrest has called the bottom of the cycle for minerals development, and vowed to create a new venture to collect abandoned and undeveloped mineral projects across Australia, according to the Australian Financial Review.

Citing the malaise in commodity prices and the availability of cheap debt, Forrest said the time was right to begin work on the next generation of mining projects in Australia, and he vowed to build a new venture with many of the people who were involved in the early stages of his most successful venture, Fortescue Metals Group.

Rio fighting for $300m in Forge court stoush

Rio Tinto could emerge ahead of ANZ as the biggest creditor in collapsed mining services firm Forge Group, with the mining giant lodging court action claiming it is owed $205 million on top of $100 million in bank bonds it called in last year after the contractor went under, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Rio’s move dramatically raises the stakes in its court stoush with Forge’s receivers, KordaMentha Restructuring.

Senators move to give CSG whistleblower air

Coal seam gas projects worth almost $50 billion are under fresh scrutiny, after allegations of rushed, incomplete approval processes that sidelined possible environmental impacts, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Efforts will resume this week in a Senate committee to make public documents and comments by a Queensland whistleblower.