Mining

The Takeovers Panel has blocked a major shareholder of Finders Resources from accepting the recent takeover offer after the corporate watchdog submitted an application to the panel.

Fortescue Metals Group has recorded higher production costs during the March quarter, while iron ore shipments were down slightly for the period.

Iluka Resources has been served with a class action, with a group of shareholders alleging the mineral sands miner misled the market six years ago.

Business News has been tracking WA’s largest private companies for more than 20 years and found most have experienced big changes over that time.

The WA School of Mines should include new disciplines and postgraduate degrees to insulate it from the cyclical resources economy, and help it become a global leader in its field, according to three former students who are now industry leaders.

Gold Road Resources has announced cost increases and schedule delays due to recent heavy rainfall at its half-owned Gruyere gold project near Laverton.

A solar power company founded by former Western Power manager Neil Danby and olympic basketballer Andrew Vlahov has picked up its first contract, winning $7 million of work for Image Resources’ Boonanarring mineral sands project.

West Perth-based Toro Energy has announced a shift in strategy as the uranium-focused company begins a gold exploration program at its Lake Maitland project near Wiluna.

Perth-based Apollo Minerals has announced plans to spin-out its Fraser Range assets via an initial public offering, as the company focuses on its European tungsten and gold projects.

Perth-based GR Engineering Services has been selected as preferred tenderer for a $93.1 million contract to design and build a processing plant for Capricorn Metals’ Karlawinda gold project near Newman.

Pilbara Minerals founder John Young has stepped down from the company’s board, with Sally-Anne Layman set to become a non-executive director as the company closes in on first lithium production.

Auris Minerals chairman Bronwyn Barnes and independent director Susan Vearncombe have been voted off the company’s board, after a group of dissident shareholders gained enough support to pass a number of resolutions at a special meeting today.

King & Wood Mallesons Partner Nathan Collins, who was involved in the debt restructuring of troubled uranium miner Paladin Energy, says the deal, which left existing shareholders with a 2 per cent stake, was the only real option for the company.

Osborne Park-based Veris has secured a three-year services contract for technology infrastructure upgrades at BHP Billiton’s accommodation villages.

Past overreach on IR and current political realities combined to mute the federal government’s options in terms of the new ‘super union’.

Mining giant BHP Billiton has trimmed its full-year iron ore production guidance after being forced into unexpected dumper car maintenance.

Brian Gilbertson-led Jupiter Mines has made a steady start to trading on the ASX today, after the manganese miner completed a $240 million initial public offering.

Rio Tinto has announced an 8 per cent spike in its Pilbara iron ore production to 83.1 million tonnes for the quarter, while shipments were up 5 per cent at 80.3mt.

Perth-based engineering company ADRA Group has announced former EWS chief executive Robert Osborn Jr as its new leader.

Gold-focused Titan Minerals has signed an agreement to purchase a processing plant in northern Peru in a cash and scrip deal for approximately $6.5 million.

Some aspects of targeted sanctions on Russia are proving beneficial for commodity producers in WA.

Atlas Iron has posted disappointing quarterly results, with discounted prices for its low-grade iron ore leaving the miner with a loss from its March production.

West Perth-based Tungsten Mining has tapped investors for $20 million as the company seeks to progress its Mt Mulgine project in the Murchison region.

Mark Connelly-led Tao Commodities is set to commence trading on the ASX on Monday, after the junior explorer raised $4.7 million via an initial public offering.

Perth-based Genesis Minerals has received commitments to raise $5 million through a share placement, with the funds to be spent on a drilling program and a feasibility study at its Ulysses gold project.

Perth-based company Lycopodium has been appointed as lead engineer and author for a pre-feasibility study at Jervois Mining’s Nico Young cobalt-nickel project in NSW.

Accounting firm BDO has appointed Perth-based chairman Sherif Andrawes as its global natural resources leader, replacing Charles Dewhurst from the company’s US arm, after 12 years in the role.

Junior explorers Black Mountain Resources and Australian Vanadium have announced $3 million capital raisings, while gold-focused Crusader Resources is tapping investors for $6.5 million as part of its initial public offering on the London AIM.

Fortescue Metals Group is expanding its fleet of autonomous haul trucks with the conversion of 100 vehicles at its Chichester mining hub, leaving the company with a fully driverless fleet.

Shares in KIN Mining have nearly halved in value today after the company announced it would be reviewing its $35 million Leonora gold project following expected increases in pre-production capital

The Minerals Council of Australia has announced former Co-Operative Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Technologies chief executive Tania Constable as its new leader, more than six months after Brendan Pearson left the role.

The board of nickel miner Western Areas has approved a $32 million capital works program at the company’s Odysseus project, with the definitive feasibility study set to be released in the September quarter.