A conference, themed “Redefining English Language Teaching & Learning in the 21st Century Context”, is held on Friday to discuss the changes and innovations in English-language teaching and learning in a world where students are surrounded by developing technology, internet access and a myriad of digital devices. — VNS Photo Gia Lộc

MELBOURNE: BHP Group on Tuesday reported its best first-half profit in seven years and declared a record interim dividend, as top metals user China’s strong appetite for iron ore to support its infrastructure push kept prices elevated.

China’s reliance on commodity-intensive stimulus measures to sustain economic growth has sent prices of the steel making ingredient to multi-year highs, while the COVID-19 vaccination push has brightened outlook for trade this year.

The world’s largest listed miner said in a statement it expects a continuation of strong Chinese demand in 2021, and recovery in the rest of the world’s global crude steel production.

“It’s a pretty solid result,” said portfolio manager Andy Forster of Argo Investments.

“Relative to expectations, it looked pretty good, strong cash flows and dividend, projects operationally performing well,” he said. “Strong iron ore and copper should set it up for a pretty good second half as well.”

BHP is the first of its Australian peers to report this week, with all expected to cash in on sky high prices for iron ore. Rio Tinto reports on Wednesday and Fortescue on Thursday. Last month, BHP forecast record annual iron ore output.

The company declared an interim dividend of US$1.01 per share, up from last year’s payout of US$0.65 per share.

Its underlying profit from continuing operations for the six months ended Dec. 31 rose to US$6.04 billion from US$5.19 billion last year. It missed a consensus of US$6.33 billion, however, from 17 analysts compiled by research firm Vuma Financial.

BHP acknowledged that its coal business, which is under review for sale or spin off, has taken a hit due to a trade spat between Australia and China that the miner does not expect to be resolved any time soon.

“We’re certainly not banking on any near-term resetting of that policy,” Chief Executive Mike Henry told reporters on a results call.

(Reporting by Shriya Ramakrishnan and Anushka Trivedi in Bengaluru; Editing by Grant McCool and Sam Holmes)

MELBOURNE: Rio Tinto’s destruction of sacred Indigenous rock shelters in Australia this year has dismayed and galvanised a swathe of investors who want big changes in how mining firms manage heritage issues and have begun to tell them so.

They have stepped up communication with mining companies both in volume and frequency, putting them on notice to improve accountability and risk management, according to Reuters interviews with two dozen major investors and corporate governance advisers.

Such engagement is nothing to be sneezed at, they add.

“(For) many of the most influential investors, a quiet conversation with the chair to make their expectations clear is enough. More transactional approaches are often unnecessary,” said Susheela Peres da Costa, head of advisory at Regnan, an adviser on environment, social and governance (ESG) issues.

Regnan is part of the Pendal Group which has some A$94.8 billion (US$70 billion) under management.

READ: Aboriginal group says Rio Tinto ignored pleas to save sacred cave from blast

However, failure by miners to adequately address concerns could at some point lead to more direct shareholder actions, as has been seen with other ESG issues such as climate change and the use of coal, advisers said.

Those actions would generally come in three forms: efforts to influence the makeup of company boards, resolutions put forward at annual general meetings on cultural heritage issues and walking away from a firm by divesting.

“I think we will see that investors are going to be much more proactive in how they vote on directors and how they influence the shape of the boards,” said Simon O’Connor, chief executive of the Responsible Investment Association Australasia, whose members manage more than A$9 trillion.

That influence was on display when Rio Tinto parted ways with its CEO and two deputies in September, bowing to a shareholder outcry over the blasting of the Juukan Gorge sites – which had been legal but ignored the wishes of Aboriginal owners – as well Rio’s initial board-led review which found no one person was accountable.

In the wake of the blasts, Rio and fellow top iron ore miners BHP Group and Fortescue Metals Group have all reviewed their heritage management processes.

Rio, in particular, has increased its oversight and accountability to include reviews of its heritage management by board sustainability and audit committees and has said it will benchmark its progress.

BHP has said it has since introduced a requirement for more senior level approval before any site is harmed and has also stepped up its discussions with Indigenous groups.

Fortescue CEO Elizabeth Gaines told Reuters in a statement the company works on a “cultural heritage avoidance basis” and has avoided nearly 6,000 sites. Its audit committee, which reports to its board, is responsible for Aboriginal heritage matters.

STARTING WITH LETTERS

Institutional investors are increasingly focusing on ESG issues to mitigate risk for the long-term investments they hold.

Shareholder campaigns against the use of thermal coal for example, have led to more than 120 financial institutions restricting related financing, insurance or investment, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.

The first salvo by investors has often been the humble letter, and investors in miners are now seeking more information about their dealings with Indigenous peoples and the standards they employ.

Last month, the boards of 78 global mining companies received one such letter from a large group of institutional investors worth US$10.2 trillion that includes the likes of the Church of England Pensions board and the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors.

Many are taking action on their own. HESTA, an Australian superannuation fund with AUS$2 billion invested in the mining industry, has written to 14 miners in which it has holdings. Details it is seeking include how management communicates with Indigenous peoples and how they practice obtaining consent.

While HESTA’s head of impact, Mary Delahunty, told a parliamentary inquiry that divesting was a last resort, at least one prominent fund manager has already gone there.

Ausbil, which had A$11.1 billion under management as of June, cut its Rio holdings to zero in August, its head of ESG research Mans Carlsson-Sweeny has said, citing failed internal governance procedures. Rio had featured in the fund’s top 10 holdings just a month earlier.

Corporate advisers say one area of focus in heritage issues is likely to be how boards get independent information.

Boards will need access to information that bypasses management, said Daniel Smith, a governance advisor with CGI Glass Lewis. To that end, a specialist heritage advisor reporting directly to the board could be appointed, or a board could have an ESG subcommittee responsible for stakeholder management including of traditional owners, he said.

Many mining companies have yet to appoint chief sustainability officers to manage ESG exposure, said Henning Gloystein at risk consultancy Eurasia Group.

He added that companies which have executive bonuses directly tied to clear, measurable ESG outcomes also assess better on ESG metrics.

MELBOURNE: BHP Group pursued permission to damage Aboriginal cultural sites in April, an Australian parliamentary inquiry heard on Thursday, despite being told of the distress it would cause traditional owners.

The inquiry is investigating Rio Tinto’s legal detonation in May of sacred and historically significant rockshelters for an iron ore mine at Juukan Gorge in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.

Rio’s Chief Executive Officer Jean-Sebastien Jacques and two deputies stepped down last week following a public outcry, the deep upset of the traditional owners and the discontent from institutional investors who called for management to better account for the damage.

BHP executives David Bunting, the company’s Australian Heritage Manager, and Libby Ferrari, Head of Indigenous Engagement, testified about the company’s application to disturb 40 sacred sites of the Banjima indigenous group as part of its US$2.9 billion South Flank mine expansion in the Pilbara.

The Banjima “did provide feedback through BHP that there were concerns around some of the places” that would be disturbed, said Ferrari. “They were able to and did air their views quite clearly with us and with the regulator.”

Both Ferrari and Bunting noted that the Banjima did not object to the South Flank expansion, but also acknowledged that the consent agreement between BHP and the Banjima does not allow them to legally object to the destruction of sacred sites.

However, an April 16, 2020, letter from Banjima Native Title Aboriginal Corporation Chief Executive Officer Joanna Ramsey submitted as part of BHP’s application contains heartfelt objections to their destruction.

In the letter reviewed by Reuters, Banjima Corporation Chairman Maitland Parker says, “that while he knows Banjima cannot object to the application, this in no way diminishes the cumulative loss that Banjima people feel each and every time significant places … are to be harmed.”

Parker added that he wanted future generations to “know we didn’t just sign off on this stuff and forget about it, we put up a fight about these places.”

The Western Australia Minister for Aboriginal Affairs approved BHP’s application on May 29, just days after the news that Rio destroyed the Juukan Gorge sites.

Of more than 480 applications by miners to disturb significant sites in the past 10 years to July, all but one have been approved.

In her testimony on Thursday, Ferrari said that BHP was working under the consents that are currently in place.

“Would we have done things differently in hindsight? Possibly.”

BHP pledged on June 11 not to disturb any of the Banjima sites without further study and consultation.

Edgar Basto, the head of BHP’s Australian operations, said the miner is focusing on improving its approach to better protect heritage sites in a process of deep engagement with traditional owners.

BHP said last week it would set up a heritage committee with senior Banjima elders to improve consultation and communication around heritage sites.

BHP has also clarified that Aboriginal owners are free to comment on the management of their cultural heritage, and is reviewing clauses around consent in its agreements.

However, BHP, like Rio and Fortescue Metals Group have stopped short of supporting the right of Aboriginal groups to veto the destruction of sacred sites.

(Reporting by Melanie Burton; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)