Mining

Over 99 per cent of Doray Minerals' shareholders have voted in favour of the company’s proposed $615 million merger with fellow locally-based gold miner Silver Lake Resources.

Shares in St Barbara have fallen 30 per cent after the company said it would have to keep using trucking to extract gold from its flagship Gwalia project, due to ventilation issues it discovered at the underground mine.

Supreme Court justice Kenneth Martin has slammed the long-running legal battle between Clive Palmer’s Mineralogy and CITIC Pacific Mining as a massive, unnecessary waste of judicial resources, with both parties bearing responsibility.

Fortescue Metals Group will establish a research and development centre in Karratha to develop autonomous transport for urban areas.

Blackham Resources has announced a fully underwritten renounceable entitlements issue to raise $25.8 million, of which $10 million will be used to pay debts owing to contractor MACA and The Lind Partners.

Northern Star Resources executive chairman Bill Beament has sold about $22 million worth of shares in the gold miner, as part of a Family Court settlement.

A federal Labor government will make Perth the home base for an Australian Future Mines centre, and has also pledged to provide 50 mining engineering scholarships at WA universities.

Meteoric Resources has struck a deal to pay up to $3 million in cash and scrip for Crusader’s Resources Juruena and Novo Astro gold projects, and Crusader has increased the underwriting of its $4.2 million rights issue by $1 million.

RCR Tomlinson’s secured creditors may only receive around $70.6 million of the $230 million they are owed, and its unsecured trade creditors are likely to receive none of the $170.6 million they are owed, as administrators McGrathNicol recommended the failed engineering firm be liquidated.

Kalium Lakes has secured around $102 million of debt funding for the development of its Beyondie sulphate of potash (SOP) project, less than a month after receiving commitments for $74 million from the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility for the project.

Mincor Resources has extended its offtake agreement with BHP Nickel West, marking a key step in Mincor’s restart of its Kambalda nickel operations.

A Brazilian court has ordered Vale SA, the world's largest iron ore miner, to suspend operations at two more dams, demanding that it prove the structures are stable.

BCI Minerals has appointed GR Engineering as lead engineer on the Mardie salt and potash project’s definitive feasibility study (DFS).

Northern Minerals and Venturex Resources have announced share placements of $20 million and $3.65 million, respectively.

Pilbara Minerals has exercised an option to enter into a joint venture with steelmaker Posco to develop a lithium processing facility in South Korea.

Altura Mining has increased its share purchase plan (SPP) by $4 million, just two days after it upsized the offer from $5 million to $10 million.

David Flanagan has moved to a new executive chairman role at Battery Minerals, making way for former Atlas Iron chief operating officer Jeremy Sinclair to become managing director, among several board changes at the graphite company.

40under40: It’s said that adversity often provides opportunity, and the success of this year’s Medium Business category winner bears that out.

40under40: Tim Topham had to wrestle with big challenges to create one of the Goldfields’ most prominent drilling businesses.

Altura Mining has declared its Pilgangoora lithium project is now producing commercial amounts of lithium, while increasing its share purchase plan from $5 million to $10 million.

A BHP Group rail maintenance crew applied brakes to the wrong locomotive when they tried to help the driver of a runaway iron ore train, which ended up being deliberately derailed in the Pilbara region.

Hastings Technology Metals has reported that capital costs of its Yangibana rare earths project are expected to be approximately $427 million, compared to the $335.3 million figure it outlined in its definitive feasibility study.

The board of Gindalbie Metals has recommended shareholders accept a takeover offer from its Karara project partner Ansteel, and has proposed to demerge its wholly-owned subsidiary Coda Minerals.

Panoramic Resources has announced its intention to raise $22.4 million via two share placements and an entitlement offer, while juniors Black Rock Mining and Kibaran Resources are also involved in capital raisings.

Newcrest Mining will pay Toronto-listed Imperial Metals Corp $US807 million ($A1.15 billion) for a majority stake in a Canadian copper and gold mine.

Automotive Holdings Group has slipped out of the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index, while six Western Australian companies have moved into the S&P/ASX 300 index.

Argosy Minerals and Alta Zinc are both undertaking rights issues, to raise up to $6.2 million and $4.38 million, respectively.

Australia's trade surplus increased to $4.5 billion in January, the second largest surplus on record, as the value of gold exports exceeded expectations.

BGC Contracting has been awarded a $30 million contract to develop the Ramone Gold Project for Northern Star Resources, a week after BGC confirmed it would still seek to sell the contracting business.

Panoramic Resources will undertake a $19 million capital raising in return for favourable loan repayments to project financier Macquarie Bank, after production issues plagued its Savannah nickel-copper-cobalt project.

An $800 million expansion of Talison Lithium’s Greenbushes site will go ahead after Talison and Global Advanced Metals resolved a legal dispute over the plans.

Capricorn Metals’ managing director and chief financial officer have resigned after two shareholders of the gold junior successfully ousted three of its directors.