Belmont-based Pindan has been awarded an $18 million state government building contract in Carnarvon, while Bunbury-based Perkins Builders has received an $8 million government contract.
Struggling gold producer Blackham Resources has released positive production results for December after being given a two-week reprieve on a $14 million debt repayment earlier this week.
Australian shares have opened comfortably higher, following strong gains in commodities and US markets where the Dow Jones index broke above the 25,000 mark for the first time.
Gold has steadied around a 3-1/2-month high as prospects for further US interest rate increases put the brakes on a recent rally, while palladium touched record highs on tight supplies.
Oil has risen to its highest since May 2015, on concern about supply risks due to unrest in Iran and another decline in US inventories as refining activity hit a 12-year high.
Hobbled spearhead Mitchell Starc has struck late on day one of the Ashes series finale, denying Joe Root a century and reducing England to 5-233 at stumps.
Western Australia’s automotive industry has finished the year down 2.5per cent in new vehicle sales relative to last year, after a drop in sales for December ended a two-month run of strong growth.
Australian shares have ended slightly higher with strong performances in the healthcare and energy sectors helping offset a weak session for the big miners and banks.
Local engineering and construction group Valmec has announced it will purchase Henderson-based specialist pipeline testing company APTS, which was recently put into receivership.
Oil prices have risen nearly 2 per cent to their highest in two-and-a-half years, with buying spurred on by a sixth day of unrest in OPEC member Iran and strong economic data from the United States and Germany.
Gold prices have fallen, extending losses after the Federal Reserve released minutes of its December policy meeting, which fed the view among investors that more US interest rate rises are in store.
Subiaco-based Blaze International has announced that it will acquire mining company Everest Minerals via the issue of 48,500,000 million shares to Everest shareholders.
Regional Express has been selected by the state government as the preferred airline for the Perth-Carnarvon-Monkey Mia air route while Skippers Aviation was nominated to remain in operation at the Perth-Northern Goldfields routes.
A new Perth-based cryptocurrency exchange is aiming to be in operation in the first quarter of 2018 after the company recently raised $750,000 in private funding.
Perth-based technology company DTI Group has won a $US7.2 million ($9.5 million) contract to install CCTV surveillance systems on light rail vehicles in the US over the next 18 months.
Western Australian indigenous business Carey Training has been awarded a $2.5 million training contract with the Malaysian Institute of Technology Academy based in Kuala Lumpur for the next three years.
The City of Fremantle has shortlisted six companies for the building contract for the civic building and library as part of the $270 million Kings Square redevelopment, while also announcing the demolition contractor for the council’s old administration building.
Mining contractor Resource Development Group has been awarded a concrete and civil works contract worth more than $9 million at Mineral Resources’ Wodgina lithium project in the Pilbara.
The Australian share market has opened marginally higher on the back of a positive lead from Wall Street where two of the three stock indexes hit record closing highs on its first trading day for 2018.
