Mr Simon Bennison CEO of the Association of Mining & Exploration Companies said that various statements in the media today that the mining industry supported introduction of the proposed Mineral Resource Rent Tax were incorrect and misleading.

He added that "The MRRT deal was made with three large multi-national, multi commodity companies, and not with the industry as a whole. The signed agreement between the three companies and the Government has not been made public despite numerous requests for the Government to share this information with the mining industry and the Australian public."

Mr Bennison claimed that there was no mandate for the three companies like BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Xstrata to represent the rest of the industry in any discussions, or enter into a heads of agreement on behalf of the industry.

He added that "In fact, many AMEC members still strongly oppose the MRRT, as there company modeling indicates that some companies will be faced with an Effective Tax Rate over 45% (including income tax, royalties and the MRRT). The MRRT is an extremely complex tax that places a significant compliance burden on all iron ore and coal companies, large and small. Junior miners and their investors continue to be faced with uncertainty and a lack of clarity concerning the final parameters and financial effects of the MRRT reform measures."

Mr Bennison said that there is also a continuing lack of clarity surrounding the crediting of all state and royalty payments, which provide significant social dividends to many regional and communities.

He added that "What some newspapers did say was that the honeymoon between Gillard and the big three may be on the rocks, as some newspapers notably The Australian have said Xstrata in particular were claiming the Gillard Government, which is one seat short of a hung parliament, was planning to renege on offsets such as State royalties payments to the tax deal offered to BHP, Rio and Xstrata."

(Sourced from www.mineweb.com)