News

11 Sep

Expansion plans for Caltex lubes business

Caltex has announced a $5m expansion of its national bulk lubricants storage and distribution network, including the construction of a new facility at Welshpool in Western Australia. The lubricants, grease and coolants supplier is building the distribution centre and bulk storage facility in the Perth industrial suburb, it says, to ensure a dedicated supply chain

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29 Aug

Is coal under threat of a Chinese green movement?

Queensland Resources Council chief executive Michael Roche has rejected leading economist Ross Garnaut’s claims that China will cut its reliance on coal-fired power in coming decades. Garnaut, a professorial research fellow in economics at the University of Melbourne, published a paper this week suggesting that in response to climate change, China will resort to alternate

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29 Aug

WA blames iron ore price for rating downgrade

Nahan said the Moody’s decision to downgrade the state’s rating from AAA to AA+ was disappointing, and called on the federal government to re-examine its GST distribution policy to be more fair on WA following the decline of the iron ore price over the last 12 months. “The GST system is broken, the state is

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25 Jul

Chinese file suit against Palmer

CITIC Pacific has accused Australian businessman Clive Palmer of “fraud” and “dishonesty” in a claim lodged in Queensland’s Supreme Court yesterday, according to media reports. In a statement of claim reportedly lodged by CITIC, the Chinese government-owned business is alleging that Palmer inappropriately used $12m in funding from a shared bank account. $10m in funds,

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18 Jul

Multifunctional core barrel system from Sandvik

Sandvik has introduced a multifunctional NSU (N surface and underground) core barrel system for core drilling applications, said to be the first of its kind to feature interchangeable components, along with standard and pump-in applications in a single system. Chris Daws, Sandvik Mining’s core drilling product line manager, says the design of the NSU core

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16 Jul

Lube market set to take off

Despite a slowdown in overall mining investment, the mining lubricant market in Australia is anticipated to grow steadily over the next few years, market analyst Frost & Sullivan predicts. As the mining industry shifts focus to enhanced production, Frost & Sullivan’s analysis finds that the mining lubricant market earned revenues of $446.3m in 2013  and 

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15 Jul

Aurizon-Baosteel offer ‘not fair,’ Aquila says

WA mining business Aquila Resources has advised its shareholders to accept a $1.1bn offer from Chinese steelmaker Baosteel and Queensland-based rail haulier Aurizon, despite saying that the price is not a fair one. An independent expert appointed by Aquila following the bid from Baosteel and Aurizon in early May has told the resources company’s board

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07 Jul

BHP billion: Japanese iron ore milestone met

Australian mining giant BHP Billiton has marked a significant milestone in its iron ore mining and export program in WA. Jimmy Wilson, BHP’s president for iron ore, joined marketing and technology president Mike Henry in Port Hedland where they met with representatives from joint venture partners ITOCHU and Mitsui to mark the billionth tonne of

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04 Jul

Public outrage at Glencore tax tactics

Three classic public gripes are at the fore of a heated war of words between the Sydney Morning Herald, coal miner Glencore, and the Australian public, over how much tax the mining giant is (or isn’t) paying. A producer and marketer of a variety of mined and agricultural commodities on the global scene, Glencore’s core

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12 Jun

5 juniors set to jump on graphene bandwagon

Graphene is billed as the thinnest, strongest, and most malleable material ever developed, and experts are abuzz over its potential uses in electronics, biological engineering and other industries. But graphene comes from graphite, a mineral with a global production of just 1.1mtpa. Here are five Australian juniors poised to jump on the booming demand for

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