Mining

Woodside Petroleum has been forced to halt production at its Pluto LNG plant in the Carnarvon Basin after a cyclone detached a nearby drilling rig.

OZ Minerals has sold its 19.2 per cent shareholding in copper miner Sandfire Resources in a transaction worth $125 million.

Energy giant BP will hold onto its Perth bitumen business but will sell the rest in the country to Puma Energy for an undisclosed amount.

Rare earths miner Lynas Corporation has almost doubled its half-year loss as it looks to cut more costs in a difficult market.

Cyclone Olwyn passed over Barrow Island last night but left in its wake controversy over safety on the island, with unions criticising preparations for the cyclone, which hit one day after a worker

Emeco Holdings has diversified its business outside the mining sector by purchasing truck and trailer rental company Rentco, which was founded in 1994 by Perth brothers Bob and John Shier, in a structured deal worth at least $52 million.

Crude-oil prices fell as traders focused on rising US stockpiles amid a global supply glut.

Gold has steadied as a retreat in the US dollar from 12-year highs arrested its eight-session slide, although speculation that US interest rates could rise sooner rather than later kept prices under pressure.

East Timor's resources minister Alfredo Pires has revealed new studies by his country show an onshore liquefied natural gas plant for Woodside's shelved Sunrise project is a commercially viable option.

Phil Byrne has resigned as managing director of Nido Petroleum, after presiding over two transactions that transformed the Philippines-focused oil producer.

You don't need to listen too closely to hear the pips squeaking in Western Australia's iron ore lemon after a week-long debate about the state's most important industry, which appears to be heading for a crisis that will hit companies and governments in equal measure.

Oil and gas company Neon Energy has reversed its decision to accept Evoworld Corporation's takeover proposal, after an independent expert's report found the deal to be unfair.

Decmil Group has won about $40 million worth of work at Hancock Prospecting's Roy Hill iron ore project in the Pilbara, building on its portfolio of port, rail and fuel infrastructure work already under way at the site.

Mining billionaire Gina Rinehart has lashed state and federal governments for imposing too many costs on the mining sector amid a commodity price downturn.

Oil prices finished mixed after a key report showed US crude stockpiles had swollen to another record high, adding to an oversupplied global market.

Gold prices have fallen more than one per cent, touching its lowest level in more than three months in what looks to be an eighth straight losing session as a robust US dollar and expectations of higher US interest rates curbed appetite for the metal.

Gina Rinehart's $US10 billion Roy Hill iron ore project is expected to begin shipping ore in six months and ramp up to 55 million tonnes per annum within 30 months, according to chief executive Barry Fitzgerald.

Tech companies Dubber Corporation and xTV Networks have announced major new deals after completing backdoor listings on the ASX, with investors in Dubber sitting on healthy gains today.

Australian employees of oil and gas service provider Wood Group PSN can expect a salary freeze while contractors will experience rate reductions, a move the company said was in response to cost and efficiency challenges affecting the sector.

Shares in Gulf Minerals Corporation surged on news it had signed a $26.3 million equity funding deal with Sigur Holdings to cover development costs at its manganese smelting project in Indonesia.

Chevron and Shell have singled out high costs as a major challenge facing Western Australia's ability to further develop its globally recognised oil and gas industry.

Perth-based Doray Minerals has posted $4 million in net profit for the six months to December, on the back of lower cash costs and solid growth in gold production.

A stronger dollar has pushed oil prices sharply lower, adding to fierce pressure on the market from a global supply glut.

Gold has fallen to a three-month low, pressured by the US dollar's rise to its highest in nearly 12 years and renewed expectations of a midyear interest rate increase in the United States.

Iron ore rivals BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto are united in their forecast more high-cost producers will leave the market, but have stopped short of predicting how Western Australia's higher-cost producers will fare over time.

Perth-based minerals explorer Rift Valley Resources has signed a deal to wholly acquire the Mtemi Resources Group of Companies after completing a $4 million capital raising.

The state government has fast-tracked legislation into parliament to curb excessive rate rises on some tenements in the mining and petroleum sectors.

Resource Development Group managing director Jeff Brill has stepped down from his executive role as the mining services group looks to cut costs.

Subiaco-based minerals explorer TNG has signed an offtake agreement for vanadium from its flagship Mount Peake vanadium-titanium-iron project in the Northern Territory with South Korean-based Woojin.

Oil and gas modelling software provider Stochastic Simulation has entered into a $5 million deal to acquire modelling technology from Predrill Stresses International.

Atlas Iron non-executive director David Hannon has resigned from the company's board with immediate effect to focus on family matters, with the company yet to announce a replacement.

Australia's biggest and lowest cost iron ore producer has hit back at claims it has flooded the market with supply, with Rio Tinto pointing the finger at its big Australian competitors.