Mining

A Chinese white knight for Oz Minerals may give stressed shareholders some relief but it will only add to the mounting pressure on federal Treasurer Wayne Swan who has the final word on foreign investment.

Cost-cutting measures have reached new heights with Osborne Park-based Northern Mining going to extremes to reduce the company's overheads and its ongoing operating costs in light of the current economic environment.

Shares in Western Areas have been placed in a trading halt pending the release of details of a nickel offtake agreement.

Uranium miner Paladin Energy has significantly extended its interim net loss on the back of a $US527 million ($A804 million) impairment charge to its Mt Isa assets and investment write downs.

Integra Mining will raise almost $14 million through a share placement, with proceeds to be applied to feasibility studies and exploration at its Randalls and Aldiss-Randalls projects.

Uranium miner Paladin Energy will move to compulsorily acquire the remaining shares it does not own in Fusion Resources, after its takeover offer for the minnow closed yesterday.

Rio Tinto has reported a 50 per cent drop in net earnings for the 2008 calendar year which includes an asset impairment charge of $8.4 billion, mostly attributed to a write down of its aluminium business.

Mining giant Rio Tinto has sold minority interests in some of its most valuable assets, including iron ore miner Hamersely Iron, to Chinese group Chinalco as part of a transformational US$19.5 billion deal.

East Perth-based Metals X has reached agreement to sell its Collingwood tin project to Icon Resources for an upfront payment of $250,000.

Shares in Leighton Holdings have surged as much as 10 per cent today as Australia's biggest construction company reports a 56 per cent fall in first-half net profit and a $239 million write down on the value of its infrastructure investments.

Trade opportunities The Western Australian Trade Enquiry Service is operated by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA with the support of the WA Government's Department of Industry and Resources.

ENCOURAGING signs from two key biofuels players points to a potential recovery for the sector, recently besieged by rising feedstock costs and plant commissioning problems.

Minara Resources has pulled out of two Western Australian nickel joint ventures with Gryphon Minerals.

Uranium explorer West Australian Metals has secured $1.4 million in cash through a convertible note facility with Subiaco-based Batavia Mining.

Initial study results into Heron Resources' Kalgoorlie nickel project has estimated capital costs at $US1.5 billion ($A2.2 billion) and a projected mine life of 34 years.

The state's mining sector has bucked the trend of the Deloitte WA Index in January, with stock values rising by over 3 per cent.

VDM Group is expecting a better second half performance after forecasting its first half profit to fall to $3 million, prompting its shares to fall by as much as 63 per cent in trade today.

The tax office has warned mining companies to be cautious before entering into arrangements that allow for immediate deduction claims for future obligations to rehabilitate a mine site.

Energy and Minerals Australia says it is targeting 2013 to start uranium mining at its Mulga Rocks deposit in Western Australia.

An Extract Resources director facing the boot from a major shareholder has called for a meeting for the removal of two of his fellow board members.

FORTESCUE Metals Group has booked a $1.1 billion net profit in its first full half-year of mining.

ZIRCON producer Australian Zircon has appointed Michael Kiernan (pictured) as a non-executive director. Mr Kiernan has mining expertise, both at an operation and management level.

BROCKMAN Resources managing director Wayne Richards has taken advantage of the recent upswing in the company's share price, exercising 1 million options in the money.

The Note loves to trawl the annual returns of WA’s political parties to see just who gives what.

Kalahari Minerals has filed documents in the Supreme Court of Western Australia over the appointment of newly elected Extract Resources director John Main.

Fortescue Metals Group has agreed to settle a shipping contract dispute with the issue of $US22 million ($A34 million) worth of shares and has entered into a shipping joint venture.

Straits Resources will raise nearly $80 million through a convertible notes issue to the Standard Chartered Bank and has been granted an 18-month, $25 million senior debt facility by the bank.

Ausco Modular has opened a new 250-room accommodation village in Karratha, six months after construction started.

Iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group has booked a $1.1 billion net profit in its first full half-year of mining, though in line with previous periods its result has more to do with accounting adjustments than mining operations.

Nickel miner Independence Group has booked an unaudited net loss of $1.2 million for the December quarter following a $7 million write-down in investments and exploration expenditure.

Nickel miner Albidon has reached an agreement with a private investment fund for a capital injection of up to $40 million through a convertible notes issue.

Mineral sands hopeful Image Resources has signed a deal with a Chinese organisation to investigate results from its North Perth Basin project and may lead to a joint venture.