About a week ago in the NWH thread I wrote:
“One thing that is interesting is that both NWH and BYL make a point of their involvement with Aboriginal businesses, particularly joint ventures. By getting the percentage of these JVs right, they allow their customers to score brownie points to meet commitments made to communities on whose land they are mining, and to meet other Aborigine-upliftment goals. This could be significant from a marketing perspective, from an employee-sourcing perspective (particularly if it reduces FIFO costs) and it is likely to help gain certain permissions from Aboriginal communities, and lower complaints concerning breaches of provisos.”
Today I looked further into this, but more from a BYL perspective, and I wrote what follows.
For whatever reason ranging from genuine to Machiavellian, mining tycoons (Twiggy Forrest in particular) are promoting greater employment of Aborigines in their mines, and Tony Abbot has joined the fray. On top of all this, it makes good business sense. This is where BYL can do very well as a result of its joint ventures with Aboriginal communities. BYL has a JV in place with Ngarluma Yindjibarndi Foundational Ltd and two more ramped up to go, plus lower-level supply arrangements with five other Aboriginal businesses. The latest half-year reports details these thus:
“Agreements in place to commence projects with:
• Wintawari Guruma Aboriginal Corporation
• Karlayura Construction Services
Supply agreements with:
• Bulkamarra Pty Ltd
• JKA Consulting
• Buriyamanaga Pty Ltd
• Weymul Pty Ltd
• Five Star Earthmoving Pty Ltd"
It is not only on or near mine sites where this theme can play out with the miners, there are also government-funded infrastructure initiatives in Australia, and in WA and the NT in particular, and these government agencies would be favourably disposed to letting contracts that promote Aboriginal involvement.
This evening's reading has two stories that relate to the gist of this post – they are:
• http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/state-government-welcomes-perth-road-funding-boost-by-wouldbe-infrastructure-prime-minister-20130817-2s3bx.html
• http://www.skynews.com.au/topstories/article.aspx?id=897615
BYL is not alone in this JV space, but relative to its size it seems ahead of the pack. I hold NWH, and it also has a JV with Ngarluma and Yindjibarndi Foundation Limited, plus one with Eastern Guruma Pty Ltd. A Google search informs me that RQL has such a JV (see http://rel.com.au/wp-content/uploads//2013/05/20130514-FMG-Solomon-Announcement4.pdf )
This is a theme-related musing, as are the Pilbara-iron-ore-healthier-than-thought musings. We can get into the metrics of BYL and its outlook once the preliminary report for YE 30/06/2013 is published, which is scheduled for 20/08/2013.
Add to My Watchlist
What is My Watchlist?