Infrastructure

Gindalbie Metals says its 50 per cent owned pellet plant in China will not be made redundant if its project partner, AnSteel, goes ahead with plans to build the state's first steel mill in Oakajee.

Premier Colin Barnett's mission to include China in the development of the Oakajee port and rail project has prompted an outcry from the local steel industry, which has appealed to the opposition for help.

Shares in Murchison Metals have surged as much as 24 per cent today after the miner clarified the extent of talks with China over the Oakajee port and rail project.

Shares in Murchison Metals have been placed in a trading halt pending confirmation of construction contracts for the Oakajee port and associated rail, which are to be awarded to two Chinese firms.

PART of the third stage of the contentious Pretty Pool development at Port Hedland has been stalled by the environmental watchdog, which ruled it threatened a nesting site for flatback turtles.

Power provision is a major challenge for Western Australia.

WESTERN Power and Verve Energy are shaping for a fight over increases in electricity network charges recommended by the independent market regulator last week.

Property developer Port Bouvard has booked a $29 million net loss for the 2009 financial year which includes a more than $30 million asset impairment charge as a result of a weakening property market.

The state government has committed more than $6 million towards upgrades at 30 regional airports across Western Australia.

The Economic Regulation Authority has knocked back Western Power's request to allow big increases in the price it charges for access to the state's main electricity grid for the next three years.

Opposition energy spokesman Mark McGowan today called on the state government to end 10 months of uncertainty surrounding the possible re-merger of Verve Energy and Synergy.

STATE Energy Minister Peter Collier has denied the government is preparing to abandon Premier Colin Barnett's mooted re-amalgamation of Verve Energy with Synergy.

The company in charge of the billion-dollar Oakajee deepwater port and rail network has appointed WorleyParsons to conduct the budget and engineering components of the $100 million bankable feasibility study.

WESTERN Australia's construction sector has been boosted with the awarding of $342 million in contracts to builders across the state as part of the federal government's infrastructure funding program.

The private sector should be given more opportunities in infrastructure provision.

The secret to successfully managing an expanding privately owned business is to act like it's public, according to John Georgiou.

WESTERN Australia's business community has given cautious approval to initiatives proposed at last week's Council of Australian Government (Coag) meeting, aimed at streamlining the approvals process for taxpayer-assisted major infrastructure developments.

Barnett backs 9pm retail trading PREMIER Colin Barnett has announced that he will introduce a bill paving the way for retail trading hours to be extended to 9pm on weeknights.

THE first $1 million is always the hardest to earn, or so the saying goes.

THE drawn-out debate surrounding Western Australia's ageing grain transport rail network may have finally reached a workable solution.

GOOD help, so the saying goes, is hard to find.

When the economy is the issue, the fight is over how to pay for promises.

Paladin Energy has approved a $US71 million ($A88 million) expansion to its Langer Heinrich uranium mine in Namibia, which will be smaller than originally targeted.

Airline Virgin Blue will increase its services to the Pilbara, announcing today it will start direct flights from Perth to Port Hedland in August.

Sydney-based Norfolk Group has secured a $96.5 million contract from BHP Billiton Iron Ore for rail signaling installation work as part of the miner's Rapid Growth Project 5.

WestNet Rail has resumed operations on four regional rail lines after striking an agreement with the Barnett government to assess the long-term future of the state's run-down grain rail network.

The Geraldton Port is responsible for facilitating significant levels of trade for the state, conservatively estimated to be worth $2.3 billion a year which is tipped to grow up to 20 per cent.

IS the commercial centre of the Pilbara moving west? BHP Billiton's proposed merger of its iron ore operations with those of Rio Tinto is the latest indication of the dynamic shift under way in the north-west, one that will tend to favour Karratha as the

THE Chinese government's approval of a critical $162 million cash injection into Gindalbie Metals by the company's Chinese partner, AnSteel, has delivered a major boost to the emerging Mid West iron ore industry.

Aquila, FMG to assess Pilbara port

The effects of a BHP Billiton-Rio Tinto JV would be felt all around the world.

A PILBARA Port Authority governing the massive export centres of the north-west should one of the results of the proposed iron joint venture between BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, according to the state opposition.