Dan Wilkie

Housing and commercial construction in Western Australia has significantly tightened in 2011, and prospects for the rest of the year ahead are a continuation of quiet times and leaner profits, a new survey says.

West African Resources has announced it will raise $7 million to fund drilling programs at its Moktedu gold project in Burkina Faso.

BHP Billiton has announced it will spend $7.4 billion to expand its Western Australian iron ore operations' capacity to over 220 million tonnes per annum, and has invested another $2.6 billion on its Queensland coal operations.

Resources industry and business lobby groups say they are still not convinced over the merits of the mining tax despite Treasurer Wayne Swan accepting all 98 recommendations of the tax's December review.

PERTH football fans had reason to celebrate in December when the state government announced it had finalised its plans for a new stadium.

THE state government has advanced plans to make the heritage-listed South Fremantle power station the focal point of a major redevelopment of former industrial land at North Coogee.

The fallout from Entrust Funds Management's failed bid to oust the board of property developer Aspen Group has continued, with director Seng Fai Chan resigning today.

Yara International is proceeding with plans to construct a $US700 million ammonium nitrate plant at the Burrup peninsula, despite the past few months' issues with joint venture partner Burrup Holdings.

The City of Perth has set the wheels in motion to redevelop a 7.4 hectare tract of land in West Perth, known as the Hamilton Precinct, for residential and commercial use.

The City of Fremantle says it is aiming to quadruple its inner city resident population and increase retail floor space in its CBD by 20,000 square metres by 2015.

Mincor Resources says it may have to close its Otter Juan nickel mine in Kambalda a year before schedule after it was forced to reduce production due to a sudden deterioration in ground conditions in the lower-most levels of the mine.

Mineral Resources has launched a friendly all-scrip takeover offer for unlisted public company Auvex Resources and its 50 per cent interest in the Mesa manganese joint venture tenements in the Pilbara.

Entrust Funds Management has all but conceded defeat in its bid to roll the board of developer Aspen Group, after discussions with major institutional shareholders revealed a lack of support for the bid.

The marriage between Russia's state-owned ARMZ Uranium Holding Co and Perth-based Mantra Resources is back on, after the companies agreed on a revised takeover bid that values Mantra at $1.02 billion.

Perth based gold explorer Aragon Resources has recommended its shareholders accept Westgold Resources' $76 million friendly takeover offer, after independent analysis found it fair and reasonable.

Murchison Metals has played down reports that the cost of its half-owned Oakajee port project could hit $6.7 billion, but has confirmed that its latest estimate has risen to $5.2 billion.

Canada's Lundin Mining has told its shareholders to reject Equinox Mineral's $4.9 billion hostile takeover, saying it is "financially inadequate" because of the number of conditions attached to the offer.

CBH Group shareholders will get their chance to vote on the group's restructuring initiatives and its new constitution at an extraordinary general meeting to be held in May.

Diversified Perth-based explorer Atlantic has announced drilling results have revealed a 19 per cent increase in JORC-compliant resources at its Windimurra vanadium project in the Mid West.

Perth-based shipbuilder Austal's US division has won a $US368.6 million contract to build a fourth littoral combat ship for the US Navy.

Resources giant Rio Tinto says it will recruit around 50 former forestry workers from the Manjimup-Pemberton area as part of its efforts to fill roles created by its ongoing expansion.

The Australian Building and Construction Commission has launched court action against a Perth company over its alleged failure to maintain pay records and contract details at two city construction sites.

The world's fifth largest uranium producer has backed away from a $1.1 billion takeover of Perth-based Mantra Resources on concerns Japan's nuclear crisis would harm the local uranium industry.

Civil engineering and construction firm Decmil Group has won a $55 million contract to install a second 800-man camp at Fortescue Metals' Christmas Creek operation.

THE state government says a $250 million developer contribution scheme, launched at the Wungong Urban Water project in Armadale, will significantly boost land supply and set new standards in facilitating development across multiple landowners.

THE state government has released a new planning and infrastructure framework to guide urban development in the Pilbara for the next 25 years.

NEXTGEN Networks has completed a 426-kilometre fibre optic cable link from Perth to Geraldton, built as part of the $250 million National Broadband Network Regional Backbone Blackspots Program.

The state government says it will push for the redevelopment of the decrepit South Fremantle power station after it rezoned 91 hectares of North Coogee land for residential development.

West Perth-based explorer ZYL says it has gained the support needed to become a metallurgical coal producer by late 2012 after it received backing from institutional investors to the tune of $30 million.

Focus Minerals says it will lift its yearly gold production by 40,000 to 60,000 ounces, after it announced the start of mining at its underground gold project, The Mount.

Perth-based Perron Group has secured five new leases for its office tower on Melbourne's St Kilda Road, despite vacancy rates in the area rising above expected levels.

Training and Workforce Development Minister Peter Collier is pushing for changes to skilled migration that go further than the reform package announced yesterday by the federal government.