Latest Headlines

Western Areas is looking to raise $104 million to reduce debt and provide greater financial flexibility after a positive half-year report which saw the nickel miner turn a big loss to a modest $2.7 million net profit.

BHP Billiton has delivered a better than expected half year profit based on cost cutting rather than commodity prices while predicting the good times to continue.

Gold and silver have hit fresh multi-month highs on the European spot market, although analysts say there are near-term risks to further gains.

The cost of doing business in Australia means the country has become an investment no-go zone for international companies.

The Australian dollar has lost a bit of ground in quiet overnight trade with US markets closed for the Presidents' Day public holiday.

Western Australians could go back to the polls as early as next month after the High Court could not declare who was elected to the WA Senate because of lost votes.

The Film and Television Institute is forging the way for game developers in Western Australia, appointing Kate Raynes-Goldie as its first director of Interactive Programs.

Energy and Minerals Australia has appointed former state government minister Cheryl Edwardes as chairman, replacing Mike Young who has taken a new role as managing director.

An independent report on the future of the federal government's Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission has sparked intense discussion across the sector.

The Toyota saga is a good example of the employment flexibility required to survive and prosper in the modern economy – and what can happen when it's missing.

The Australian Institute of Marine Science has teamed up with three universities for a major environmental study off the state's Kimberley coast that will be funded by gas project developers Shell

The Tony Sage-chaired Cauldron Energy is lobbying the state government to ignore the advice of the mining warden and allow the company to explore for uranium at pastoral leases on Andrew Forrest's

Businesses are hopeful that better times are ahead, but at the moment small firms in particular are facing an upward struggle.

The annual Sculpture by the Sea exhibition at Cottesloe has been thrown a financial lifeline by Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting.

Battling vanadium producer Atlantic has revealed it could take up to nine months to repair fire damage to the processing plant at its Windimurra mine in the Mid West.

Australian shares have finished higher, buoyed by local earnings results and offshore gains.

Western Australia's fledgling aquaculture industry has been given a boost, with the state environmental watchdog giving its tick to a proposed 2,000-hectare development zone in the Kimberley.

The failure of construction company Forge Group has forced Roy Hill's major contractor, Samsung C&T, to consider alternative ways to continue work on the iron ore project, including the possibi

Flying an unmanned aerial vehicle, or ‘drone' in the vernacular, is a serious business that requires its operator hold a private pilot's licence before taking the craft to the skies for commercial

FEATURE: A new indigenous consultancy wants to prove others can follow in its footsteps.

Voters in Western Australia will find out tomorrow whether they will go to a fresh Senate election which could determine the fate of the Abbott government's agenda.

FEATURE: Impressive statistics don't necessarily equate to widespread positive change.

Drilling fluids and equipment supplier Imdex has reported another fall in net profit, after a record half-year performance by its oil and gas division was offset by further contraction in its minin

Engineering and property services group UGL is hopeful of growing earnings in 2014 despite fielding offers for its property business.

Oil and gas explorer Oilex has raised $6.8 million to fund development and drilling at its Cambay oilfield in India's Cambay Basin.

The Australian sharemarket has opened stronger due to record Chinese credit growth, a strong lead from Wall Street and better-than-expected domestic earnings season.

Freight rail operator Aurizon has suffered a 39 per cent slide in first half profit due to asset writedowns and redundancy costs.

Gold has posted the biggest weekly gain since August as signs of a faltering recovery in the US economy boosts demand for precious metals as a haven.

US stocks have surged higher this week as investors were reassured by the Federal Reserve, cheered by a congressional move to raise the debt ceiling and undeterred by disappointing economic data.

The Australian dollar is higher as the prospect of a stable interest rate outlook helps investors shrug off last week's disappointing jobs figures.

In hindsight, Forge Group founder Peter Hutchinson was unwittingly prophetic when he spoke to Business News in June 2012, on one of his last days at the company. Explaining his decision to hand the reins to more experienced managers, Mr Hutchinson said he wanted to ensure Forge didn't enter the “graveyard of mining services contractors that have come unstuck”.

The team behind Fremantle's Little Creatures Brewery has revealed details of its new Northbridge project, which will be called Alex Hotel.