Australia’s New South Wales Independent Planning Commission has turned down Glencore’s proposal to expand its Glendell coal mine citing its potential to damage heritage values. 

Following evidence from various stakeholders, the Commission conceded that the expansion “is not in the public interest, despite its likely benefits”. 

Australian mining company Iluka has signed an agreement with rare earth miner Northern Minerals for the delivery of rare earths concentrate from the latter’s Browns Range project in Western Australia.

Australian gold mining firm Pantoro and its joint venture partner, Tulla Resources, have poured the first gold at the Norseman Gold Project in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia. 

The Norseman Gold Project is made from 150 near-contiguous mining tenements and produced more than 5.5 million ounces of gold between 1935 and 2014. 

Canadian miner Teck Resources has signed a deal to offload its 21.3% stake in the operating Fort Hills oil sands project in Canada to Suncor Energy for a cash consideration of around $737m (C$1bn). 

According to the agreed terms, Suncor Energy will acquire Teck Resources’ stake in the project holding company Fort Hills Energy Limited Partnership and some associated downstream assets.