Local government councils in the Wheatbelt may stop issuing permits for operators of larger grain trucks as the deadline for the state government to commit an initial $45 million to upgrade rail lines for grain transport passes.
Gunson Resources will build its processing plant for the Coburn zircon project in Western Australia instead of China as it selects Intermet Engineering as its preferred engineering contractor.
VDM Group expects to book an operating loss for the 2009 financial year as current business conditions result in a write off of goodwill by up to $85 million.
Resource stocks have helped to continue the positive momentum in the Deloitte WA Index with the collective market capitalisation of WA's top 100 companies jumping 54 per cent over the past four months.
Straits Resources has taken a substantial shareholding in Adamus Resources as the latter steps up debt and equity talks for its $95 million gold project in Ghana.
Shares in Fortescue Metals Group have surged 21 per cent amid speculation that Chinese interests could have the Pilbara iron ore miner in their sights.
Shares in soon-to-be transformed Croesus Mining have soared after the company completed a $7 million capital raising with shares priced at a hefty premium.
Engineering and infrastructure company GRD has become the latest acquisition target for UK-based AMEC, which has proposed a $106 million cash takeover offer.
ENTITIES controlled by the Chinese government are now taking major stakes in primary industries on a global scale that makes Enron's involvement in the US power industry look like child's play.
PERTH'S stockbroking scene has undergone some major changes over the past year as the sector repositions itself to take advantage of growing market confidence.
THERE is an interesting collection of businesspeople who wield influence in government due to their roles as board members of major corporatised agencies.
JOB advertisements in Western Australia have slumped more than 56 per cent during the past 12 months as the engineering sector takes the biggest hit, new figures show.
AS the state's timber sector reels following the collapse of two of its biggest and most established private players, a new downstream processor is confident of the future of the industry from which it takes its name.
ONE year after fighting off a hostile takeover attempt, Ausdrill managing director Ron Sayers has declared the business he founded more than 20 years ago to be takeover-proof, and the likely instigator, not prey, of future acquisitions.
THE state's iron ore juniors are predicted to reap the rewards from the collapse of the Rio Tinto and Chinalco deal, with Chinese investment likely to flow to emerging iron ore producers.
THE third attempt in a decade to merge the iron ore assets of BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto could resolve this issue for good, with Premier Colin Barnett seemingly prepared to negotiate over a long list of demands.
SIX months after initiating an overhaul of the construction and management of state government buildings, Treasurer Troy Buswell has unveiled details of the reforms to Western Australia's building and construction stakeholders.
WEST Perth-based Croesus Mining will be transformed into a base metals explorer following a deal with gold miner Apex Minerals and prospector Mark Creasy.
FINDING a business that trades well in a weak economy sounds like a great attraction for investors, and West Perth based ThinkSmart reckons it fits the bill.
Retail sales in Western Australia are forecast to surge more than 4 per cent in fiscal 2012 after a slight contraction the year before as the economy feels the effects of higher unemployment as the current pipeline of projects dries up, new figures show.
