Staff Reporters

HAVING ploughed $1 million into exploring the Windimurra Superproject and the Jillawarra project, prospector Mark Creasy is seeking the backing of public investors through a $4 million initial public offer of Apex Minerals NL.

WHILE demand is high for lawyers with up to five years’ experience, it is certainly a different story at the lower end of the market.

MID-LEVEL law firm Deacons is undergoing major changes as part of its bid to reach the top of Perth’s second-tier operators.

Barnett promised he would produce a discussion paper on the directions he hoped the party would travel in modernising its practices and management.

JUST two years ago most legal firms were very much enamoured with the multidisciplinary model.But steps in this direction in WA have been tentative at best, with many firms holding back altogether.

PERTH accounting firm McKessar Tieleman has won a World Bank contract to teach Chinese small to medium-sized businesses how to become more profitable.

MEDICAL indemnity insurer United Medical Protection was placed in provisional liquidation this week following a Government decision not to support a bail out.

THE brain drain sucking talent away from WA appears to be slowing and, in some cases, even reversing.Legal recruiters and law firms are starting to record more expressions of interest from people looking to move to WA.

Some legal industry and mining company operators have told WA Business News that the new section seems to be “a little bit more payback to the unions”.

THERE has been a shakeup in WA’s barrister ranks thanks to six Supreme Court and Royal Commission appointments.Christopher Pullin, Eric Heenan and Carmel McClure have all been made justices of the Supreme Court.

LARGE trades in Amity Oil Limited shares this year have prompted the Australian Stock Exchange to request a new list of Top 20 share and option holders.

REYNOLDS & Associates Advertising & Design has picked up Stratagem’s client list after the latter entered voluntary administration earlier this month.

IN the lead-up to Anzac Day, past and future Australian peacekeepers were in the news.

PLAYING golf can be an expensive exercise … lost balls, broken clubs and the unplanned stop at the 19th hole can add up to a fair sum of money at the end of the day.Then, of course, there’s the actual cost of getting on to the greens.

THIRTY nine of WA’s 40 top-paid public company directors earned more than $400,000 in 2001, and number 40 was only a shade behind that figure.

WA-BASED Ivanhoe Mines Ltd has expanded its Mongolian presence after signing two new agreements, delivering it an additional 353sq kilometres on two new prospects, Shuteen and Turquoise Ridges, which sit about 120 kilometres north

THE lease of Ardross restaurant Campo de Fiori has been sold to Gala Group Pty Ltd.The company is operated by German-born Johannes Lang and Marianne Kempf.

SOME people believe that old things just creak, while others find beauty in the world of the antique.The WA Business News list of antique-selling shops shows there’s no general interest in the purchase of clocks.

OPINIONS are divided over the benefits of exempting small businesses from Federal unfair dismissal laws.

FRANCHISES have become so prevalent and so successful that it seems there’s one for nearly every aspect of daily life.

THE corporate world may make the running when it comes to big salaries and employment packages, but that’s not to say the public service doesn’t pay well.

MINERAL explorers and small producers are not often sought after by institutional investors.Most investment comes from industry visionaries and those clients who are convinced by brokers’ stories.

THE second stage of the commercial development on the Supermail site will give the Hatch staff some new neighbours to share lunch with.

MELBOURNE was aglow this week with the World Gold Council’s annual general meeting held in the southern capital, as well as the Australian Gold Conference and an investor’s forum.

AMBASSADORS and consul generals descended on WA this week for a three-day visit that took them down to Margaret River and north to Karratha for a brief on Australian Liquefied Natural Gas, and the Woodside and Hamersley Iron projects.

THE arrival of national cosmetics phenomenon Mecca Cosmetica in Perth is delivering a new retail experience for Claremont shoppers.

The State Government first began talks with the Chinese Government for the possible supply of LNG to China and Hong Kong in 1997.

THE sale by public tender of Abernethy Park in Kewdale brings a major industrial complex to the market.The development near the intersection of Kewdale and Abernethy Road is currently returning an annual rental income of more than $800,000.

UNITED States efforts this week to quell the escalating trouble between Israel and the Palestinians received a mixed reception.

ALCOA Australia and Hamersley Iron have maintained their dominance as the two largest exporters in WA for the 2000/2001 financial year.

THE Department of Mineral and Petroleum resources has redesigned and relaunched the online version of its Western Australian Petroleum Information Management System.

THE Water Corporation is seeking interest in a four-hectare pocket of land in Shenton Park.The Water Corporation is in the process of selling land all over the metropolitan area that is no longer needed for their operations.