Jim Hawtin

THE issue of land is at crisis point in Broome. Apart from the Broome International Airport site, land in Broome is crown land and is subject to Native Title.

NEW and expanding resource processing facilities in WA signal an important new direction in the State’s minerals and energy industry, according to a new report.

IT was English-born Mike Hilton’s time working on a Western Australian wheat and sheep farm that made him realise how precious water is in this part of the world.

COMMERCIAL operators who dump or burn unauthorised waste will risk on-the-spot fines of up to $5,000 or court summons under new regulations.

THINGS appear to be moving in the right direction for mining promoter Andrew Forrest and his Fortescue Metals Group.

THE State’s farmers stand to lose a “significant” portion of the $500 million wheat trade with Indonesia if the Federal Government continues its support of lower-cost Australian flour exports into Indonesia, according to a local consultant to Indonesia’s

SHIPPING container handler, Patrick Stevedores, gave the WA shipping industry a peak at its futuristic national stevedoring plans at a presentation to industry and government in Fremantle last week.

EVERY Christmas a Chinese lady, also a shareholder of Croesus Mining, buys her grandchildren shares as a gift.

EXTENSIVE regional benefits flowing from BHP Billiton’s recently announced $US1.4 billion nickel mining operation at Ravensthorpe are under threat after the Fed

WORSLEY Alumina refinery – a joint venture of BHP Billiton, Kobe Alumina Associates and Nissho Iwai – is likely to receive approval to spend $225 million to boost annual output by 250,000 tonnes per year while expansions of up to 4.5 million tonnes/year..

THE Association of Mining and Exploration Companies wants to review a long-held code of practice between explorers and pastoralists.

THE managing director of the biggest gold float to hit the Australian stock market since the gold price collapse six years ago says the yellow metal has attracted strong overseas

THE Western Australian rock lobster industry is hopeful a short-term tariff deal recently struck with the European Union will develop a fledgling trade with the epicurean market into a major export earner for WA.

INDIGENOUS Land Use Agreements such as the one signed earlier this week between Hamersley Iron and the Eastern Guruma Aboriginal Community are being touted as the way forward.

THE Commonwealth Government has maintained its support for an $800 million commercial space port on Christmas Island despite a series of setbacks that have beset the project since it was announced three years ago.

A CONSORTIUM of Western Australian specialists has been awarded a coastal management contract in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to address concerns over increasing tourist pressures on the beaches of Dubai.,

TRADITIONAL barriers were broken between financial planners and industry superannuation funds last week.

Many of the results are in from the listed companies best placed to capitalise on strong gold and nickel prices. Jim Hawtin investigates.  

WITH Fremantle’s inner harbour expected to reach capacity in about a decade, the State Government is focusing on the development of a second, $400 to $500 million overflow terminal at Kwinana.

LISTED South Australian mining manufacture and supply business, SDS, is over the first of a series of hurdles as it tries to increase its market share of specialised mining drill

THE head of Perth-based resource information distributor Intierra says the upturn in the resources sector is starting to flow through to the local exploration industry.

THE far north Kimberley region could become a major bauxite producing area, with Queensland miner Aldoga Minerals confirming it has applied for several leases in the region.

THE discovery of gold more than 100 years ago to the south of Port Hedland sparked a 20-year gold rush in the Pilbara.

WESTERN Australia has the worst record in the nation for industrial disputes, accounting for almost half the disputes in Australia, according to the State Opposition.

DESPITE the appreciating Australian dollar Western Australia’s mineral and petroleum sales grew by 4 per cent to $28 billion in the 2002-2003 financial year.

LISTED Indian-based subsidiary of gold explorer Australian Indian Resources (AIR), Deccan Gold Mines, says while its operations on the subcontinent are flourishing, it’s playing s

KALGOORLIE’S Mining Hall of Fame hopes to raise $3 million to establish a trust fund and put its financial woes behind it.

THERE are renewed hopes in the mining industry of better times ahead following recent financial commitments by the State Government.

Jim Hawtin investigates the pressures driving the iron ore industry and the companies looking to profit from it.

ON February 18 gold and tantalum miner Sons of Gwalia’s new management team delivered the company’s 20th half yearly report.

THE number of insurance companies in Western Australia offering workers’ compensation portfolios has almost halved in the past 10 years according to WA Government market share figures obtained by WA Business News.

WITH its new fast ferry – the five-storey, 86-metre Spirit of Ontario 1 – officially clocking 46.5 knots, or 86.2 kilometres an hour, Austal is primed to flex some muscle in the U