Bhp Billiton

The expansion of India's economy is drawing rising interest from resource-rich exporters including Australia, the world's largest shipper of iron ore, as well as mining companies such as BHP Billiton Ltd. keen for new opportunities as the pace of China's growth cools.

BHP Billiton reported a record $6.4 billion annual loss, hammered by a bad bet on shale, a dam disaster in Brazil and a commodities slump, but sounded a note of optimism as prices stabilise and its costs fall.

India, one of the fastest growing emerging markets, will be among three of the four largest economies in the world by 2050, CEO of the mining giant BHP Billiton Andrew Mackenzie has said.

India is getting ready to open up commercial coal mining to private companies for the first time in four decades, with the aim of shifting the world's third-biggest coal importer towards energy self-sufficiency.

The US rock band Pearl Jam is donating $100,000 to victims of a toxic mining spill in Brazil that killed at least 13 people and was the country's worst environmental disaster.

Mud from a dam that burst at an iron ore mine in Brazil earlier this month, killing 12 people and polluting an important river, is toxic, the United Nations' human rights agency said on Wednesday.

Brazilian authorities have halted all operations at an iron ore mine where the collapse of a waste reservoir triggered a mudslide that killed at least four people, the state government said Monday.

A dam holding back waste water from an iron ore mine in Brazil that is owned by Vale and BHP Billiton burst on Thursday, devastating a nearby town with mudslides and leaving officials in the remote region scrambling to assess casualties.

The world's biggest miner reiterated its pledge to never cut its dividend, and lowered its target for capital spending for the year to June 2016 to $8.5 billion from $9 billion previously to help meet the promise.

Mining major Vedanta on Tuesday said its strategy is to "simplify and consolidate" its corporate structure, amid speculations of Cairn India merging with itself.

The global giants have met stubborn resistance after many big Chinese miners kept producing despite weaker iron ore prices, helping push prices far lower than Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Vale envisaged when they began to flood the world with ore two years ago.

The BHP Billiton-Mitsubishi Alliance, which has seven mines in the resource-rich Bowen Basin, said the job losses were needed to "deliver further cost reductions and productivity improvements and remain viable for the long-term".

Miner Fortescue warned on Thursday that a potential strike by tugboat deckhands could shut down its Australian iron ore operations, a day after BHP Billiton said any industrial action would hurt exports.

GVK Infrastructure on Thursday said it is negotiating with the government for a refund of Rs 180 crore spent on seven deep-water exploration blocks, which were surrendered last year, a senior group official said.

Commodities such as copper and rubber have been commonly used for financing in China, but Beijing's tightening of lending in sectors plagued by overcapacity such as steel has made it harder to secure bank loans, spurring financing demand for iron ore, according to industry sources familiar with the practice.

The expansion of India's economy is drawing rising interest from resource-rich exporters including Australia, the world's largest shipper of iron ore, as well as mining companies such as BHP Billiton Ltd. keen for new opportunities as the pace of China's growth cools.

BHP Billiton reported a record $6.4 billion annual loss, hammered by a bad bet on shale, a dam disaster in Brazil and a commodities slump, but sounded a note of optimism as prices stabilise and its costs fall.

India, one of the fastest growing emerging markets, will be among three of the four largest economies in the world by 2050, CEO of the mining giant BHP Billiton Andrew Mackenzie has said.

India is getting ready to open up commercial coal mining to private companies for the first time in four decades, with the aim of shifting the world's third-biggest coal importer towards energy self-sufficiency.

The US rock band Pearl Jam is donating $100,000 to victims of a toxic mining spill in Brazil that killed at least 13 people and was the country's worst environmental disaster.

Mud from a dam that burst at an iron ore mine in Brazil earlier this month, killing 12 people and polluting an important river, is toxic, the United Nations' human rights agency said on Wednesday.

Brazilian authorities have halted all operations at an iron ore mine where the collapse of a waste reservoir triggered a mudslide that killed at least four people, the state government said Monday.

A dam holding back waste water from an iron ore mine in Brazil that is owned by Vale and BHP Billiton burst on Thursday, devastating a nearby town with mudslides and leaving officials in the remote region scrambling to assess casualties.

The world's biggest miner reiterated its pledge to never cut its dividend, and lowered its target for capital spending for the year to June 2016 to $8.5 billion from $9 billion previously to help meet the promise.

Mining major Vedanta on Tuesday said its strategy is to "simplify and consolidate" its corporate structure, amid speculations of Cairn India merging with itself.

The global giants have met stubborn resistance after many big Chinese miners kept producing despite weaker iron ore prices, helping push prices far lower than Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Vale envisaged when they began to flood the world with ore two years ago.

The BHP Billiton-Mitsubishi Alliance, which has seven mines in the resource-rich Bowen Basin, said the job losses were needed to "deliver further cost reductions and productivity improvements and remain viable for the long-term".

Miner Fortescue warned on Thursday that a potential strike by tugboat deckhands could shut down its Australian iron ore operations, a day after BHP Billiton said any industrial action would hurt exports.

GVK Infrastructure on Thursday said it is negotiating with the government for a refund of Rs 180 crore spent on seven deep-water exploration blocks, which were surrendered last year, a senior group official said.

Commodities such as copper and rubber have been commonly used for financing in China, but Beijing's tightening of lending in sectors plagued by overcapacity such as steel has made it harder to secure bank loans, spurring financing demand for iron ore, according to industry sources familiar with the practice.