Dan Wilkie

The state government has announced it will impose a five per cent royalty rate on uranium and magnetite iron ore, setting up another fight with Canberra.

Guildford residents can hold onto their socks, because the Guildford Hotel Redevelopment Group says it has finalised its plans to revitalise the heritage-listed landmark and is ready to lodge a formal development application for the site.

Western Australia's tourism industry has heralded new guidelines for the planning of tourism projects as the incentive needed to kick-start much-needed new developments in the sector.

Queensland-based Energy Developments has targeted Western Australia to satisfy its growth ambitions, by acquiring the Wesfarmers-owned remote area energy provider, enGen, in a deal worth $101 million.

Western Australia's peak business group has welcomed the federal government's listing of Perth as a regional hardship area, saying employers will find it easier to find skilled workers, but has warned more needs to be done to alleviate skills shortages.

Chinese-owned steel producer Ansteel has confirmed an agreement to kick in $119 million to help Gindalbie Metals raise $209 million in additional funds required to develop the $2.57 billion Karara iron ore joint venture in the Mid West.

Coal explorer NSL Consolidated finished up a whopping 57 per cent after it announced a substantial increase in coal resources across its exploration permits in Queensland's Eromanga Basin.

Pacific Energy has been appointed to build, own and maintain a power station for Sandfire Resources' DeGrussa copper gold project.

Mutiny Gold has successfully raised $9.7 million to acquire the Gullewa gold project in the Mid West and to expand exploration programs at the development's Deflector deposit.

Civil and mining services contractor NRW Holdings has announced two new deals with Fortescue Metals Group worth a combined $192 million.

Internet service provider iiNet's research and development division has announced its first overseas contract win, after entering a deal with New Zealand-based telco Orcon.

Shipbuilder Austal has announced it has won a £7.4 million ($11.1 million) contract to design and construct three offshore support vessels for UK-based Turbine Transfers.

The state government's 20-year vision for Perth's public transport system, which includes light rail and rapid transit buses, has been cautiously welcomed by the Greens and sustainability experts.

The Australian Steel Institute says the award of a major contract for Chevron's $44 billion Gorgon natural gas project to a Perth-based company is proof local firms can do the work, but small- to medium-sized workshops in the state are still struggling.

IT has been 18 years in the making, but the final pieces of the Subi Centro puzzle are snapping into place, with significant progress occurring at the last two undeveloped sites, the Australian Fine China precinct and Centro North.

Mutiny Gold shares have soared after it announced that successful exploration programs at its flagship Deflector gold project in the Murchison had resulted in it doubling its initial production estimates.

The Perth office market is the tightest CBD market in Australia, and its rents are growing at the fastest rate, new statistics say.

Austal has provided an update on a review of its Henderson operations first announced in May, saying it needs to regionalise its manufacturing base to remain competitive in the face of the strong-performing Australian dollar.

Pan Asia Corporation has announced a formal agreement with underground mining group KOPEX to undertake a final feasibility study on its TCM coal project in Indonesia.

Canada's Ivernia has announced that it will continue to fund exploration at the Prarie Downs base metals project near Newman under a joint venture agreement with the project's owner signed in June last year.

Metropolitan Perth has a long way to go to arrest its urban sprawl, according to recently released statistics.

A substantial nation-leading lift in new home lending in May in Western Australia was encouraging, the Housing Industry Association says, but it was not enough to offset falls in the previous two months of the quarter.

Western Australian industry remains concerned that the carbon tax is the wrong policy at the wrong time, now that its detail has been released, the state's peak business and industry bodies say.

Perth-based uranium miner Bannerman Resources has received a highly conditional $143 million takeover offer from China's Sichuan Hanlong Group.

Troubled Perth-based scooter manufacturer and retailer Vmoto has provided another market update, amid growing pressure from shareholders to reveal more details surrounding key contracts, financial details and the status of its executive search.

There has been a flurry of new Western Australian stockmarket entrants to close last financial year and to begin the new, with seven resources-focused firms from WA listing on the Australian Securities Exchange in June and July.

An independent authority has been established to manage $3.2 billion of renewable energy funding, as further details continued to trickle out ahead of Sunday's national carbon tax package.

Navigator Resources' falling share price has forced it to again restructure its planned rights issue to raise up to $32.6 million.

Canadian energy company ATCO Group has announced a conditional agreement to acquire Western Australia's major gas utility, WA Gas Networks, in two deals worth around a combined $1 billion.

Corporate insolvencies in Western Australia have increased by more than 20 per cent over the financial year to May, according to official figures released by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

THERE are serious industry concerns over the financial implications of the state government’s plan to introduce private certification for building licences and doubts have surfaced as to whether it will actually hasten the building approvals process.

THE Housing Industry Association says new home sales in Western Australia are at ‘dangerously’ low monthly volumes.