b'Canberra observed Canberra observedwere usually poorly paid unskilledThe numbers in the table are in $A workers\x08 billions and they show the percentage changes in market value during 2020, No wonder we had problems! and how these compare with the How COVID affected our resource2019 results\x08 The companies have companies been grouped according to their main commodity interest\x08So how has COVID-19 affected the resource companies in 2020? Lets startThe three largest companies relied on by looking at the prices of four keyiron ore prices\x08 Note how Fortescue is commodities: gold, oil, iron ore and coalnow listed as the second largest resource (see Figure 1)\x08 company, and Rio has been relegated to third place\x08David Denham AMPrices for gold and iron ore continued Associate Editor for Governmentto rise steadily during 2020\x08 GoldThe gold sector has had more denham1@iinet.net.au increased by 24% over the year fromrationalisation in 2020 and Ocean Gold, $1529 to $1900/per oz and iron ore bySt Barbara and Regis Resources are no 55% from $94 to $146/t\x08 The price forlonger listed in the top 150 companies\x08 There will never be a New Normal: thermal coal is interesting\x08 It continuedThe production numbers of gold for 2020 its steady decline, to $50/t in August\x08are not yet available, but 2019 turned 2020 review out to be a record year with a production Then China blocked imports from Australia, and the price rose to $76/tof 325 t\x08 This is below only Russia with COVID-19 will affect humans for several330 t and China with 383 t (https://www\x08years in December (a lose-lose situation?)\x08 The oil price was hit hard\x08 Remember itgold\x08org/goldhub/data/historical-mine-COVID-19 and climate change willwas in negative territory for short timeproduction)\x08ensure we will never have a newin April\x08 As you can see in Figure 1, it isAs you can see in Table 1, the petroleum normal\x08 In early January 2021,starting to recover and from a monthlycompanies were hit hard by the drop in according to Johns Hopkins University,low of $17/bl in May 2020 it was backthe oil price\x08 The loss in market capital 90 million people have been infectedto $47/bl at the end of 2020\x08 At theby the top six companies was about $28 globally and two million peoplestart of the year, it was at $60/bl, a wildbillion\x08 Recovery is expected in 2021, but have died from COVID-19\x08 On top ofride indeed\x08 the $100 price per barrel mark is most these numbers, it appears that moreunlikely\x08infectious variants of the diseaseThe price of the commodities should are emerging, and the long-termaffect the effectiveness of our resourceFor those in the coal business, the health effects are significant\x08 It hascompanies\x08 Table 1 shows how the valuesituation continues to be gloomy\x08 As been reported that three-quartersof the main resource-listed companies inglobal warming is now a real concern, of COVID-19 patients hospitalized inthe top 150 ASX fared during 2020\x08 several countries are abandoning coal Wuhan between January and May 2020 had at least one persistent symptom six months later\x08Globally, COVID-19 continues to attack humans throughout the world, severely limiting travel on both global and national scales and increasing death rates wherever it goes\x08 In Australia, we have been fortunate so far, and have not experienced the high infection and death rates experienced in Europe and the Americas\x08 Our weakness has been our quarantine facilities and our delays in the mandatory wearing of masks\x08In retrospect, it was easy to see the weakness in the quarantine system\x08 Firstly, although the Australian Government is responsible for quarantine the management of the system was delegated to the States and Territories\x08 Secondly, those enforcing the quarantineFigure 1.Prices in $US for gold (LH axis), petroleum, iron ore and thermal coal (RH axis) for 2017-20.21 PREVIEW FEBRUARY 2021'