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Qantas has announced a decrease in International services as a result of the Coronavirus.

This follows on from the spread of Coronavirus through Europe, North America and Asia. The cuts are expected to continue until September.

Most A380 Flights are being replaced with the B787 which have approximately 250 less seats. The Sydney – London via Singapore flights have been redirected via Perth. While B747 flights from Sydney – Tokyo have been changed to an A330 service. Subsidiary Jetstar is also suspending routes and reducing capacity.

Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce has announced also that there will be cuts to bonuses for management and the Group Executive team will take a pay cut for the rest of the year. Mr Joyce in particular will take no salary for the remainder of the FY20 However Mr Joyce also points out that Qantas can cut further or put capacity back should the need arise. “We expect lower demand to continue for the next several months, so taking a piecemeal approach we’re cutting capacity out to mid September. This improves or ability to reduce costs as well as giving more certainty to the market, customers and our people” “The Qantas Group is a strong business in a challenging environment. We have a robust balance sheet, low debt levels and most of our profit comes from the domestic market. We’re in a good position to ride this out, but we need to take steps to maintain this strength” He said.

SUMMARY OF QANTAS GROUP NETWORK CHANGES

Route	Change	Effective dates (until mid-Sept 2020)
Asia
Sydney-Tokyo (Haneda)	B747 replaced by smaller A330	30 March
Melbourne-Singapore	– 7 return flights per week cancelled (QF 37/38) – B787 replaced by larger A330 on 7 return flights per week (QF 35/36)	– 20 April – 4 May
North America
Brisbane-Chicago	Route launch postponed	Was to start 15 April
Brisbane-San Francisco	Route suspended (3 return flights per week)	18 April
Sydney-San Francisco	B787 replaced by larger B747	18 April
Melbourne-San Francisco	Route suspended (4 return flights per week)	18 April
Sydney-Dallas/Fort Worth	A380 replaced by smaller B787	20 April
Melbourne-Los Angeles	A380 replaced by smaller B787	1 June
Sydney-Vancouver	Seasonal service suspended (3 return flights per week)	June and July only
United Kingdom
Sydney-London (Heathrow)	– Flights to operate via Perth (instead of Singapore) then non-stop to London. – Perth-London to become double daily as a result. – A380 replaced by smaller B787	20 April
South America
Sydney-Santiago	Delaying planned B787 introduction and continuing with B747	1 August

Note: The suspension of the A380 and First Class from Singapore routes will see the Qantas First Lounge in Singapore close temporarily, with customers instead invited to use the adjacent Qantas Business Lounge.

Note: Qantas B787 has approx. 250 less seats than an A380.  

 

Qantas – Extension of previously announced cancellations

(Until mid-Sept 2020 unless stated)

Route	Change
Sydney-Shanghai	Route continues to be suspended until at least mid-July (7 flights per week) (sole route to mainland China)
Sydney-Hong Kong	Reduced from 14 to 7 return flights per week
Melbourne-Hong Kong	Reduced from 7 to 4 return flights per week (1 additional cancellation per week from previously announced cuts)
Brisbane-Hong Kong	Reduced from 7 to 3 return flights per week (1 additional cancellation per week from previously announced cuts)

 Note: Further capacity reductions will also be made on flights to Japan and New Zealand, with other Asian routes under evaluation.

 

Jetstar Airways – Summary of New Changes

Routes	Change	Effective date (until end June but may be extended)
Asia
Melbourne-Bangkok	Route suspended	1 May
Sydney/Melbourne-Ho Chi Minh	Flights reduced by over 50 per cent	1 May
Japan routes	Flights reduced by almost 40 per cent	20 May
Brisbane-Bali	Minor flight reductions	1 May

Note: Further capacity reductions will also be made on flights to New Zealand, with other Asian routes are under evaluation.

A worker has died at a workshop site in Kalgoorlie Boulder over the weekend. The Monadelphous worker was in a yard Saturday March 7 when it’s appeared the worker sustained injury and later passed away.

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of our colleague in the close-knit community of Kalgoorlie. We extend our sincere condolences to our employee’s family, friends and colleagues during this very difficult time,” Monadelphous Managing Director, Rob Velletri, said. The wellbeing of our people is our primary focus, and support is being provided to our employee’s family, as well as to our team in the Goldfields. At Monadelphous, the safety and wellbeing of our people is a core value. We will be conducting a thorough investigation into the accident and working with the relevant authorities.

The family of the man released a statement on Sunday saying they were “proud as punch” of the 26 year old who had relocated back to Kalgoorlie Boulder about 12 months ago. They described him as a very social family man and also gave thanks for the support received.

“We would like to thank our, and his, family, close friends, the Goldfields community and Monadelphous for their support during this terrible time,”

Friends and colleagues also took to social media to share their thoughts, love and support.

The management and staff at Worthy Parts and Industry Link Media offer their sympathy to the family and friends.

The December quarter gold production figures have been released from Surbiton Associates. These figures show an all time high production and some spread across the nation for gold. Australia’s gold production for 2019 was an all time record of 325 tonnes, with the December quarter producing 87 tonnes alone. 2018 was the previous record with 317 tonnes for a calendar year.

Newcrest’s Cadia Operation in New South Wales topped the list for not only being Australia’s largest gold producer in the December quarter, but also the largest gold producer for the 2019 calendar year. Cadia East produced 239,772 ounces in the December quarter 43,700 ounces more than Newmont Corp’s Boddington operation in Western Australia.

“In addition to 2019 having the highest ever gold production in Australia, the December 2019 quarter was really outstanding,” said Dr Sandra Close, a director of Surbiton Associates. “The record output was due to new projects coming on stream and ramping up production, other operations recovering from poor performances in the September quarter and some increases in throughput and grade.”

A former darling of the annual and quarterly figures, The Kalgoorlie Boulder Super Pit was not part of the figures released today, however Dr Close concluded

“Sales of Kalgoorlie’s Super Pit interests were announced in late 2019, with joint venturers Barrick Gold and Newmont selling to Saracen Mineral Holdings and Northern Star Resources, respectively. This has finally resolved the ongoing ownership uncertainties at one of Australia’s largest gold mines,” Dr Close said. “The ownership changes bode well for the future, and both Saracen and Northern Star have undertaken substantial further gold price hedging in support of their new acquisitions.”

Cadia East lifted its production by 68,000 ounces and Goldfields St Ives, had an increase in production of 32,600 ounces. While operations for Auralia Metals Peak mine near Cobar and Evolution Mining’s Cowal and Mt Carlton mines produced less this quarter. While Victorian operators are still grappling with a recent gold production royalty.

December Quarter Figures:

Operation	Ounces	Owner	State
Cadia East	239,722	Newcrest Mining Ltd	NSW
Boddington	196,000	Newmont Corp	WA
Fosterville	191,864	Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd	VIC
Tanami	139,000	Newmont Corp	NT
Tropicana – JV	133,932	AngloGold Ashanti 70%Independence Group LTD 30%	WA

 

 

Operation	Ounces	Owner	State
Cadia East	871,246	Newcrest Mining Ltd	NSW
Boddington	703,000	Newmont Corp	WA
Fosterville	619,367	Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd	VIC
Tropicana – JV	513,433	AngloGold Ashanti 70%Independence Group LTD 30%	WA
Tanami	500,000	Newmont Corp	NT

Produced with assistance of Surbiton Associates

Mining services provider Pit N Portal has now officially merged with Emeco. A deal that was previously announced but confirmed today.

According to Emeco Managing Director and CEO Mr Ian Testrow “Pit N Portal has a highly complementary business model which provides a comprehensive hard rock underground equipment services offering and more than doubles our gold exposure. Diversifying our range of value added services is also exciting, as we become more embedded with our customers and secure longer tenured contracts”.

In a LinkedIn post Managing Director Steve Versteegen said

“We are very pleased to advise that we completed the merger with Emeco today and we are now officially part of the Emeco family. As a company, we are excited about the opportunities that this merger will bring and confident that the combined company will accelerate the growth of the Pit N Portal business”

Fellow Pit N Portal Director Ian Barnard will be leaving after 17 ½ years.

Emeco today also issued 4,830,918 fully paid ordinary shares to the vendors as part of the deal.

Lynas Corporation has announced a new three-year operating license in Malaysia which will take its operation to March 2023. There are however some key conditions placed on the license and these include:

1. Lynas to begin the process of developing the Permanent Disposal Facility within the first year from the date of the approved license.
2. Lynas must submit a work development plan for the construction of the Permanent Disposal Facility and report on its development status as determined by the Malaysian Atomic Energy Licensing board
3. Lynas must ensure that the Cracking and Leaching plant outside Malaysia is in operation before July 2023. After that period, Lynas will no longer be allowed to import raw materials containing Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material into Malaysia.
4. Holding of the financial deposit will be maintained for compliance with the relevant license conditions.

As part of the licence conditions,  the commitment to a Kalgoorlie Boulder facility is further strengthened. Lynas Corporation CEO and Managing Director Amanda Lacaze said “We also confirm our commitment to develop our Cracking and Leaching facility in Kalgoorlie Western Australia. We thank the Australian Government, The Government of Japan, The Government of Western Australia and the City of Kalgoorlie Boulder for their ongoing support of our Kalgoorlie Project.” Ms Lacaze also thanked the ALEB (Malaysian Atomic Energy Licensing Board) for its decision to renew the operating license for Lynas for three years.

 

A former advisor to President Nelson Mandela, a key author of twenty one books and a previous Principal Economist at the EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) has been announced as the Diggers and Dealers key note speaker for 2020. Professor Ian Goldin.

Professor Goldin specialises in economics and has numerous credentials on the world economic stage. After a start in Africa, Professor Goldin lectures at Oxford, Harvard and Tsinghua Universities as well as providing advisory and consultancy services to thirty leading companies.

His recent speaking engagements include the opening keynote at Google Zeitgeist, the Microsoft CEO Forum and TED. For the past twenty one years he has provided keynotes at the World Economic Forum meetings in Davos.

Adding to an impressive list of achievements, Professor Goldin also was a previous Vice President of the World Bank

 

His key note at Diggers and Dealers in 2020 is sure to be thought provoking and insightful.

 

Gold is on a run. But the ASX has plunged. The ASX dropped around 2.25% points on Monday trade. The ASX S&P 200 closed at6978.3. While the energy and travel sectors were hit, gold grew. Spot prices for gold sit at 1686.80 us/oz at 17:35 WST ($2556.60/oz)

Saracen Minerals rose 7.4%, Newcrest Mining 5% and Resolute Mining 5.5%. According to Commsec, 93% of stocks on the ASX 200 fell today, while 8 of the 14 that improved were gold miners due to the safe haven buying.

Wall Street is expecting trade to be negative when it opens for Monday Feb 24 trade.

Local shares were at record highs last week and showed improvement for the last three consecutive weeks

Newmont is set to invest around $150 Million in a new fleet of CAT 793F autonomous trucks for its Boddington Operation in Western Australia. As well as a new fleet, a number of exisiting trucks will be converted to an autonomous haulage system. This is set to be the first use of the technology in a gold application and paves the way for the extension to mine life and improved efficiencies. Newmont Board of Directors unanimously approved the investment which is set to be in operation in 2021.

“Not only does Boddington continue to deliver strong performance, our investment in autonomous haul trucks will generate an internal rate of return greater than 35 percent with a more controlled and efficient haulage operation,” said Tom Palmer, President and Chief Executive Officer.

According to WesTrac CEO Jarvas Croome, WesTrac are looking forward to the ability to be part of this initiative. “We are excited to be part of the Boddington project and to partner with Caterpillar to deliver ground breaking equipment solutions to support Newmont in this first installation for the gold industry,” he said.

WesTrac who are partnering with Newmont, recently announced building a world leading autonomous training facility in Collie, Western Australia. The Collie Autonomous Training Facility will support customers across Western Australia as well as up skilling existing employees in the new technology.

Boddington mine produced 167,000oz in the September quarter and was the second highest gold producer after the Cadia mine in New South Wales.