Tom Zaunmayr

Anax Metals has hatched a plan involving an historic Pilbara mine to crack open the region’s copper industry.

Mid West miner Fenix Resources plans to muscle in on the Pilbara’s iron ore industry via acquisition of billionaire prospector Mark Creasy’s CZR Resources.

Mining services contractor Perenti has put a 13 per cent profit slide down to late debtors and a flat half for contract mining services.

Chicago food business ADM exported its first faba bean bulk cargo out of Esperance on the weekend, and used a loading system usually engaged by the resources industry.

Proponents of a $400 million Exmouth deepwater port have reduced its footprint and begun rattling the tin to bring investors on to progress the project.

OPINION: While much of the talk around green and red tape focuses on big business, it is worth considering what impact it has on the next rung down.

Mark Beyer and Tom Zaunmayr, filling in for Mark Pownall, discuss the biggest news stories of the week, including falling iron ore profits; Yindjibarndi-Fortescue dispute and more.

The WA Nationals would offer a $500 rebate to insurance holders in the North West and create a standalone ministry and agency to oversee the region if they win next month’s state election.

Rio Tinto has foreshadowed a tightening of the purse strings in the Pilbara to account for softening revenue out of its sprawling iron ore operations.

Independent Fremantle candidate Kate Hulett would lobby to bar media moguls from owning gas companies should she be voted into state parliament next month.

Fortescue’s half-yearly profit has more than halved to US$1.55 billion as lower iron ore prices eat into bumper revenues recorded this time last year.

Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co will take a US$5.3 billion stake in Rio Tinto’s 6.8 billion tonne Rhodes Ridge iron ore project in the Pilbara.

Three of WA’s largest indigenous businesses have recorded substantial revenue increases, but labour costs are eating into profits.

Unionisation of the Pilbara’s iron ore industry could curtail BHP’s plans to invest in new mines, according to the company’s boss, Mike Henry.

Copper’s importance to BHP’s portfolio is growing as easing Chinese demand for iron ore cuts into the big Australian’s profit.

Disgraced-ex Labor parliamentarian Barry Urban has died in hospital three months after being attacked outside a business he managed in Kelmscott.

A Pilbara manganese developer has looked at Kwinana, Geraldton and Port Hedland as sites to for a possible refinery, while noting import and finance hurdles remain.

A Pilbara native title group pursuing a large renewable energy project and compensation from Fortescue is now the largest indigenous corporation in the state.

OPINION: It was a bad week for the WA National Party, the Liberals went big on health promises and criticism, and Roger Cook was back on the regional campaign trail.

Western Australia’s grain harvest has eclipsed 20 million tonnes for the third time, fuelled by a warm growing season and record plantings.

The WA Liberal Party has committed $400,000 to a masterplan for the redevelopment of the South Perth foreshore.

WA’s freight rail network is a major bugbear for business, Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti says, as the state government begins negotiations to buy it back.

An oat processing mill planned on Perth’s south-eastern fringe and backed by former international rugby player Dane Haylett-Petty has been submitted to the local shire.

A Pilbara ammonia upstart has struck a deal with Pilbara Ports to probe exporting ammonia from the Port of Dampier.

A WA Liberal government would plough $140 million into training new doctors and specialists, encouraging student residencies, and enabling free post-hospital check-ups.

Owners of a controversial WA lead mine which was once the largest in the world have gone into administration after a failed bid to fund a processing plant.

OPINION: The writs have been served and the politicians are off and patting dogs and kissing babies as the race to lead the state officially began this week.

The state government will begin building another desalination plant in the Pilbara by the end of the decade to ease pressure on the region’s aquifers.

OPINION: As misinformation and the digital world take over political discourse online, it is heartening to know the internet is still no match for good old-fashioned face time.

A WA Liberal state government would put $10 million toward a council-backed plan to redevelop Cottesloe’s ailing beachside amenities.

Nadia Budihardjo and Tom Zaunmayr discuss a looming Pilbara water crisis.

Concern is growing about water use in Australia’s economic powerhouse, with another water-intensive industry on the way.