PREMIER Colin Barnett was understandably chuffed to announce this week that Chinese steel giant AnSteel would spend the next 18 months studying the viability of a potential steel mill, at Oakajee.
THE fate of federal government grants conduit, Perth Area Consultative Committee, is in limbo after a planned transition to the Regional Development Australia network on July 1 failed to materialise.
THE state's peak business organisation is urging employers to get independent advice before signing documents from unions seeking negotiations over pay and conditions, following claims the CFMEU has been operating contrary to new industrial relations laws
PERTH-BASED property fund manager, Aspen Group, has extended its entitlement offer for its ailing property fund after failing to attract sufficient support from investors.
While the state's budding uranium industry grabbed local headlines last week, two Perth companies quietly confirmed the potential of southern WA as a new source of transport fuels.
WHEN energy giant BP and miner Rio Tinto quietly shelved a joint $2 billion 'clean coal' power initiative at Kwinana in May last year, many pundits considered it the death knell for the state's nascent coal-gasification sector.
A PILOT pay dispute at regional air carrier Skywest has turned a corner after prolonged discussions, with negotiators confident a deal will be worked out soon.
THE cost of land in Perth is creeping higher, with the median price at $225,000 in the March quarter, but prices are more than 10 per cent lower compared to the same period last year.
The ports of Dampier and Port Hedland remain the largest bulk export ports in the world, with combined throughput of the two ports amounting to more than 300 million tonnes last financial year.
Perth-based mortgage provider Homeloans says it expects its 2009 financial year net profit to improve by 49 per cent on the previous corresponding period.
BHP Billiton has settled almost a quarter of its total iron ore volumes at the newly agreed benchmark prices while one-third will be sold at spot and index-based prices.
Fortescue Metals Group has released a maiden resource for its Glacier Valley tenement area in the Pilbara, which is subject to a joint venture with China's Baosteel Group Corporation.
Mirabela Nickel plans to raise a further $16.5 million after securing agreements to raise more than $100 million to fund cost overruns at its Santa Rita nickel project in Brazil.
The people of Western Australia remain opposed to the state government's plan to introduce weeknight trading to 9pm, a survey by the WA Independent Grocers Association has shown.
Dioro Exploration has capitulated to Avoca Resources' hostile $68 million takeover after the fellow gold miner increased its bid and a rival deal with a Canadian miner fell through.
Reserve Bank Governor Glenn Stevens has issued a veiled warning about the risks in the housing market – suggesting that if supply doesn't rise to head off prices it could have disturbing results. This could be read as a subtle dig at the states.
Dioro Exploration's defence against Avoca Resources' hostile takeover bid has collapsed after its white knight, Northgate Minerals Corporation, terminated talks over the proposed acquisition of Dioro's stake in a key gold asset.
West Perth-based Sipa Resources has signed a $16 million joint venture deal with Malaysian investment company Affluent Net over its two copper projects in the Gascoyne.
The Broome Port Authority has signed a leasing agreement with Woodside that it hopes will position Broome as the major supply base for future gas projects off the Kimberley coast, including Woodside's proposed Browse Basin project.
The Chamber of Minerals and Energy has backed Premier Colin Barnett's suggestion of relaxing foreign worker restrictions with the state potentially requiring an additional 26,000 employees by 2013.
