The Merkin Group adopts OECD and World Gold Council Standards in Gold Supply Chain As our Gold and Precious Metals and liquid commodities businesses continue to develope The Merkin Group aspires that particularly our supply chain due diligence policy and practices, and our continued commitment, must be and are...

Engaging in Myanmar: whose interest are we serving? By Jonathan Bogais, University of Sydney Myanmar is the “new frontier” of the Asia-Pacific region. With its large potential markets, abundant natural resources and strategic position, competition for control of the anticipated revenues intensifies pressure on all sides. While economic development...

It has been another impressive year for the S&P/ASX 200, with the index returning a total of 17.6 per cent to investors. Returns haven’t been evenly spread across each sector as the broader economy grappled with reduced mining spend and a strong currency, choking export-driven sectors. The materials sector...

Kingho, one of China’s largest private mining companies, has announced an all-cash tilt at the cash-strapped mining junior Carabella Resources, which has coal assets throughout Queensland. Though the deal is only valued at $66 million, a pittance in the world of mega-mining transactions, the Chinese suitor is expected to...

Foreign investment and the popularity test: does GrainCorp set a new precedent? At any other time, Friday’s decision by treasurer Joe Hockey to reject Archer Daniels Midland’s (ADM) A$3.4 billion takeover bid for GrainCorp might have been just another controversial foreign investment decision. Indeed, were it not for a...

Libs vs Nats: GrainCorp stoush shows cracks run deep in the Coalition Socrates once observed that no-one could be a statesman if they were entirely ignorant of the problem of wheat. Once again wheat – or, more precisely, grain handling and the sale of GrainCorp – is drawing attention...

Middle power meets Middle Kingdom: Abbott looks to China Tony Abbott’s initial forays into foreign relations are exceeding expectations. True, the bar was set pretty low for many critics, but the new team is clearly intent on sending positive signals about the importance of Asia in particular. The big...

Problems with Australia’s foreign investment review system are more rooted in perception than in reality. Many of the gripes we hear from Chinese miners about confusing laws and taxes, environmental standards and stakeholder concerns are just the growing pains of a sector that is still finding its way on...

“Hedge funds and Asian buyers, especially from China, are analysing mining companies and agricultural businesses including dairy, cattle and wheat farms that are in distress with a view to take controlling or minority stakes. Turnaround and insolvency experts, lawyers, bankers and hedge funds themselves say they expect the mining...

This week Mines and Money  Group on Linked In presented  4 Perspectives on Chinese Outbound Investment as it relates to  Mining Investment and Capital Raising but it has underlying themes for every enterprise looking to China. This series of interviews comes from Mines and Money Beijing, in which M&M asked...