Mining billionaire and philanthropist Andrew Forrest has swooped down on more than 22 million shares in the company he founded, Fortescue Metals Group (ASX: FMG), the聽world鈥檚 fourth largest iron ore miner.
Forrest, who paid A$242.9 million ($160.2 million)聽for the shares, now has a 35.3% stake in the company, which its profit had more than tripled in the six months to December, exceeding market expectations.听
Forrest bought 22.1 million shares on top of the 1.09 billion he already owned, which represented a 35.3% stake
The mining magnate said his decision was partly driven by Fortescue鈥檚 commitment to community and environmental responsibility, which comes amid growing investor and public pressure for miners to lower emissions.
鈥淭he company believes carbon neutrality must be achieved as soon as possible and is investing in practical initiatives that reduce or eliminate emissions, like solar and hydrogen energy, that are and will make a real difference to carbon reduction,鈥� he said in a statement on Friday.
Forrest highlighted the company鈥檚 efforts to move away from diesel for power generation. Unlike BHP, however, Fortescue has refused to set a target to reduce so-called 鈥淪cope 3鈥� emissions 鈥� those produced when customers burn or process a company鈥檚 raw materials.
The world鈥檚 major iron ore producers are responsible for some of the聽largest volumes of end-use emissions globally, equivalent to those of the very biggest independent oil companies.
Producing a tonne of steel from iron ore releases almost as much carbon as burning a tonne of coal for energy. Globally, the steel industry accounts for about聽聽of annual emissions, compared to聽.听