Mining

Saracen Mineral Holdings has purchased the Thunderbox gold project from Norilsk Nickel for $23 million, in a deal which could double the company's production to up to 270,000 ounces per year.

Resources giant BHP Billiton has signed a final agreement to pay $US3 million ($A3.4 million) to Otto Energy to withdraw from an oil and gas exploration joint venture in the Philippines.

Analysts say Australia's major iron ore players are under pressure as the price of the steel-making ingredient continues to slide.

Sandfire Resources says it remains on track to achieve full-year production guidance, despite posting softer results from its DeGrussa copper-gold mine in the December quarter.

Gold has traded near a five-week high in London as investors weigh signs of increasing physical demand against the outlook for less US stimulus.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude has fallen from the highest closing price in two weeks amid slowing economic growth and weaker industrial output in China, the world's second-biggest oil consume

Royal Dutch Shell has announced it will sell its minority stake in Chevron's Wheatstone liquefied natural gas project and a related joint venture to the Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company for $US1.13 billion.

Wolf Minerals has announced a substantial increase in capital and operating costs for its Hemerdon tungsten and tin project in England, which is now budgeted to cost $230 million to develop.

Blackham Resources shares are up 44 per cent after the minerals explorer agreed to pay $2 million for the Wiluna gold plant in Western Australia from the receivers of Apex Minerals.

Shares in Silver Lake Resources are trading higher after the company boosted its gold production guidance on the back of a record-breaking quarter.

Wesfarmers is set to acquire a coal development licence worth $70 million from Peabody Energy, in a purchase which the company says will boost its total coal reserves by about 29 per cent.

Paladin Energy managing director John Borshoff says the company's $US190 million sale of a minority stake in its Langer Heinrich mine vindicates a decision to walk away from sale negotiations last year.

Sino-Australian investment house ASF Group will become the single largest shareholder in Perth-based Key Petroleum after agreeing to a 19.9 per cent placement of Key shares as the company expands its interests in Canning Basin oil and gas plays.

Decmil Group has won a contract with Atlas Iron for the design and construction of a major road project in the state's Pilbara region.

Moly Mines has announced another boardroom shakeup in the wake of the arrest in Hong Kong earlier this week of one of the company's major shareholder's senior executives.

Mineral Resources has confirmed the sale price of its Christmas Creek plant, saying Fortescue Metals Group will pay around $300 million for the processing facilities.

Exploration firm Energia Minerals has launched a $2.2 million capital raising plan, to fund evaluation and development of its Carley Bore uranium project in the Carnarvon Basin.

It is the biggest, heaviest - and with a legal tender value of $1 million dollars - the most valuable gold bullion coin in the world.

Uranium miner Paladin Energy's stock has lifted on the ASX after the company announced it had refinanced its debt facilities for its Langer Heinrich and Kayelekera projects.

Four incidents involving worker safety at a Fortescue Metals Group mine site are being investigated by the Department of Mines and Petroleum.

Iluka Resources shares have risen seven per cent after the company reported a sharp increase in quarterly sales revenue.

Shares in West Perth explorer Riedel Resources have skyrocketed after Fortescue Metals Group agreed to farm-in to its Charteris Creek tenement in a deal worth up to $1 million.

BGC has been awarded a contract worth more than $100 million to restart operations at Arrium Mining's Iron Knob mine in South Australia.

Woodside Petroleum has flagged up to $400 million in writedowns ahead of the release of its 2013 full year earnings result next month, with the energy giant reporting lower sales revenue for the year.

Rio Tinto has achieved record iron ore production and shipments in 2013.

Paladin Energy says it is confident of securing the sale of a stake in its flagship Namibian mine as a fall in uranium prices weighed on its December quarter activities report.

Former Exxon Mobil executive Tony Cudmore has been appointed president of corporate affairs at BHP Billiton.

Waste management company Tox Free Solutions has bolstered its order book, securing new contracts with Titan Energy and Rio Tinto's Dampier Salt business.

Oz Minerals shares have jumped 17 per cent after the gold and copper miner said it had realised its production guidance and expects a boost in production and lower costs in 2014.

Fortescue Metals Group has paid back $US1.6 billion ($A1.79 billion) of debt early, lowering its total pile to below $US10 billion.

Australia's largest gold miner Newcrest has extended its debt facility by more than $200 million as it faces a class action from shareholders over its massive financial writedown.

Welshpool-based exploration drilling equipment manufacturer Airdrill says it will reach a broader international customer base after being acquired by global drilling group Schramm, in a deal descri