Former Atlas Iron managing director Ken Brinsden has joined a budding lithium producer that will pay less than half his old salary, even though the company has a market cap five times that of his old employer.
The median salary paid to chief executives at Australian mining companies fell by 12 per cent over the past two years, and is set to decline further after recent cost-cutting moves by the likes of BC Iron, Sundance Resources, Paladin Energy and Poseidon Nickel.
Atlas Iron founder David Flanagan has resumed as the company's managing director, as the iron ore miner announced that its ambitious $180 million capital raising would be priced at just 5 cents per
Atlas Iron plans to resume production at its Mount Webber mine in the Pilbara in July after negotiating a deal with BGC Contracting that is markedly different to earlier agreements with contractors at its two other mines.
Atlas Iron has accepted the state government's iron ore royalty relief program, which will deliver an up-front cash injection of $12.5 million and an expected total benefit of $23 million.
Atlas Iron plans to resume production at its two closed iron ore mines after striking an innovative profit sharing deal with its contractors, but it is also seeking to complete a big capital raising to ensure its longer-term viability.
Atlas Iron has announced it will halt all production at its three Pilbara iron ore mines over the next month, a move that is likely to result in the loss of more than 500 jobs.
Atlas Iron is targeting further savings after revealing it sold iron ore at a loss during the December quarter, selling for an average price of $63 per tonne compared to an all-in cash cost of $66 a tonne.
The tougher business climate has prompted some WA companies to cut executive salaries, but most have held the line and some have even awarded pay rises.
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Atlas Iron has shrugged off concerns about current market conditions and its thin margins, using its annual general meeting yesterday to remind shareholders of its development track record in an intensely competitive environment as proof it is a survivor committed to doing what it takes.
Atlas Iron has made significant cost savings in the September quarter and increased its production guidance, but lower prices have delivered only marginal profits.
Iron ore exporter Atlas Iron has taken a $25 million hit to earnings as a result of restructuring and valuation changes to its Centaurus Metals investment.
Iron ore prices may have softened significantly from about $US130 a tonne during the past year, but that has not stopped local miners ramping up exports.
The slump in the price of iron-ore to near 20-month lows has failed to halt the development of assets in Australia and overseas, despite ongoing cost cutting across the sector.
Atlas Iron managing director Ken Brinsden has called on opposition leader Bill Shorten to come up with an alternative to the Mineral Resources Rent Tax if Labor continued to block its repeal.
Atlas Iron has confirmed it will ramp up production at its part-owned Mt Webber iron ore mine to 6 million tonnes per annum this year and expects to see a solid reduction in operating costs as a result of the expansion.
Atlas Iron managing director Ken Brinsden told a business forum in Perth today the big mining houses' practice of locking-up resources in the Pilbara was depriving smaller miners of development opp
Iron ore miners in the Pilbara are on track to reach production and shipping targets, despite bad weather hampering operations and affecting some December quarter results.
Atlas Iron increased shipping volumes 16 per cent during the June quarter and has outlined plans for continued growth, though the closure of its first mine at Pardoo will change its production prof
At the very end of an extraordinary week, a late announcement from an unlikely source – Transport Minister Troy Buswell – gave one of the few clear signals about future growth in the mining sector.
