The average number of days for Australian businesses to settle accounts has reached an eight year high with big firms the slowest to pay while Western Australian companies have been the quickest to pay bills, a report has revealed.
State Transport Minister Simon O'Brien has awarded over $4 million worth of contracts to several businesses for the upgrade of several bridges and the Bussell Highway.
Nickel miner Mincor Resources says it is on track to achieve its revised production guidance for fiscal 2009, as it posts record production and lower cash costs for the December quarter.
Gold hopeful CGA Mining plans to raise nearly $31 million from Canadian investors as Platinum Australia becomes the latest miner to enter a trading halt pending the release of capital raising details.
Shares in Ammtec have risen despite the company again lowering its profit guidance for the 2009 financial year as the mining downturn starts to flow through to the metallurgical testing company.
One month after announcing it will merge with Perth firm Montagu Stockbrokers, Patersons Securities has reached agreement to buy the stockbroking business of listed company Tolhurst Group for some $7 million.
A dramatic fall in the molybdenum price has forced Moly Mines to consider selling surplus mining items no longer deemed necessary for a proposed smaller start-up operation for its Spinifex Ridge project in the Pilbara.
Perilya says it will look further into cost reduction initiatives as a falling lead price threatens to increase the Perth-based miner's production cash costs.
Shares in Extract Resources have dipped as the company releases the maiden resource for its Rossing South Zone 1 project in Namibia, claiming it to be one of the most significant uranium discoveries made in decades.
Analysts at CommSec have forecast iron ore prices to fall by 25 per cent this year as Chinese consumers push for lower prices after being squeezed over the past five years.
The sharp deterioration in the Australian dollar has ensured the country's goods are more competitive on the international front as exports record the largest annual increase in over 34 years.
Shares in Subiaco-based Natural Fuel have skyrocketed as much as 76 per cent today after the company signed a 12-month contract to supply biodiesel to a Europe-based oil and gas company.
It was a mixed December quarter for iron ore miners Murchison Metals and Mount Gibson Iron, as demand for the commodity lowered one miner's shipments but raised the other.
Western Australian companies ranging from conglomerate Wesfarmers to juniors Ironbark Gold and AnaeCo have returned to the markets with a vengeance in a bid to tap fresh capital.
As companies take stock of the global financial crisis, the securities watchdog has reminded listed entities of their obligations to announce any material difference to financial results.
Gold miner Resolute Mining has raised a further $6 million through the placement of shares not taken up in the previous rights issue, as total gold production fell 10 per cent in the December quarter.
As the fallout from the Ravensthorpe mine closure starts to unravel, the state's resources lobby group says mining companies are doing all they can to prevent further job losses.
