Mining

Base-metals company Ventnor Resources has announced a joint venture with

Brockman Mining has sold off its limousine business in Hong Kong for about $6 million and used the proceeds to buy Chinese copper assets, as it seeks to focus on its mining interests.

Mineral sands junior World Titanium Resources has raised $2.6 million and bolstered its board with two new appointments.

A Fortescue Metals Group mine site in Western Australia's Pilbara region has been evacuated due to a bushfire caused by lightning.

A council representing industry heavyweights including BHP Billiton and Alcoa has thrown its support behind the City of Kwinana's proposal to take over part of the City of Cockburn and assume responsibility for the Kwinana industrial strip.

BHP Billiton Iron Ore and its former contractor HWE Newman Services have been handed a total of $238,000 in fines in relation to the death of a worker at BHP's Yandi mine near Newman five years ago.

BC Iron has posted record production and exports during the September quarter, when shareholders received almost one-third of a dollar per share in a $37 million dividend payout.

Gold futures have climbed to a one-month high, lifted by expectations for continued easy-money policies from the Federal Reserve after a slate of mixed US economic data.

Chevron Australia managing director Roy Krzywosinski says he remains wary about floating LNG technology but nonetheless predicts it will become more commonplace unless the costs of onshore developments are reduced.

Rare earths explorer Northern Minerals struck a 50 per cent offtake agreement with Japanese trading giant Sumitomo Corporation last December – but it was nine months before the deal was announced. The timeframe is indicative of the measured approach taken by the Japanese, according to Northern Minerals managing director George Bauk.

Chinese interest in Australian property and resources may be in the spotlight, but Japan still has a significant foothold, particularly in WA.

Northern Star Resources has announced that director Michael Fotios has resigned from the company's board and will take up a position as a consultant to the gold miner.

BC Iron has appointed former BHP Billiton executive Peter Wilshaw as a non-executive director.

ERM Power says it will seek to recover legal costs paid by Empire Oil & Gas for its directors' personal legal actions against shareholders as a showdown between the two companies looms at a general meeting next month.

Newcrest Mining's chairman and chief executive have told shareholders they acknowledge how disappointed they are with the company's performance and are taking action.

New laws to repeal Labor's mining tax could save the federal government $13 billion over the next four years, as it also plans to scrap a range of measures designed to assist small business and families.

Perth-based miner Mirabela Nickel has been hit with a 'selective default' rating following a missed interest payment.

Oil prices have declined after a US oil inventory report showed a surprisingly large build in crude supplies.

The perks of the mining boom are not translating to areas where the workers live, a Perth study has revealed.

Chevron is one of five petroleum companies to have been awarded new exploration permits in the federal government's latest round of offshore acreage release.

Shell Australia boss Andrew Smith has defended his company's decision to walk away from an onshore gas development at James Price Point at an at-times heated parliamentary committee inquiry.

Vanadium miner Atlantic has received a $27.3 million boost to its coffers under the federal Research and Development Tax Incentive Program.

Mining services group Emeco Holdings has recruited Aurizon executive Ken Lewsey as its new managing director, on a package that will make him one of the top 25 best-paid executives in Perth.

Money doesn't grow on trees, but gold does.Australian researchers say looking for tiny flecks of gold in the leaves of eucalyptus trees could lead miners to new bonanzas.

Mirabela Nickel has disclosed that it has missed an interest payment on a debt structure as the possibility of a default looms for the struggling miner.

The Environmental Protection Authority has recommended the approval of a silver-lead-zinc mine and processing facility near Kununurra involving China's largest lead producer.

Wangara-based Ranger Drilling has been awarded its largest ever contract in the form of an $18 million grade control drilling contract at Hancock Prospecting's $10 billion Roy Hill project.

Mining giant Rio Tinto is likely to axe hundreds of back office jobs after signing an outsourcing deal with US technology company IBM.

Mining services company Calibre Group has launched a marketing joint venture with a Canadian oil and gas company as it looks to expand its presence into North America.

Sundance Resources has signed agreements to raise $40 million from a consortium of investors as it looks to progress its Mbalam-Nabebe iron ore project in West Africa.

Oil prices have sunk to three-month lows after the US government said crude inventories had increased much more than expected, stoking concerns about demand in the world's largest economy.

Monadelphous Group has sold its aviation support services business Skystar for $10 million as it looks to implement a wide-ranging cost reduction and restructuring program.