Fraser Beattie

Mineral sands miner Iluka Resources has revealed it is in takeover talks with London-listed Sierra Rutile, an Africa-focused miner with a market cap of about $400 million.

Biotech firm Admedus has tapped investors for $18.3 million to fund ongoing development of its medical technologies.

Tempo Australia has expanded its service offering with the acquisition of local electrical, telecom and data communications contractor Cablelogic for an undisclosed sum.

Marine services company MMA Offshore has flagged a $140 million impairment in its upcoming FY16 results, with the majority of the charge attributed to its vessel fleet.

VDM Group will focus on its mining, trading and construction units of the group after announcing plans to close its equipment hire and sales business.

Power generation company Pacific Energy has won an eight-year contract extension to continue providing services at St Barbara’s Gwalia gold mine in Leonora.

Not for profit MercyCare will boost its residential aged care services with the acquisition of privately-owned Belrose Care Group for an undisclosed sum.

TransAlta Corporation has had a small win in the Supreme Court after successfully defending an entitlements claim by Monadelphous Group, but the engineering firm is still pursuing about $33 million from a joint venture comprising a Pilbara-based subsidiary of the Canadian power utility and DPB Development Group.

Digital entertainment system business Swift Networks has won a contract to provide its services to Rio Tinto’s Jerriwah Village near Tom Price, for an undisclosed sum.

A subsidiary of TFS Corporation and a joint venture between a Melbourne oils producer and a local indigenous business have been shortlisted for wild sandalwood oil processing contracts with the state government.

Padbury Mining and two of its directors have entered into a settlement agreement with the corporate watchdog over misleading statements made last year, but they could still face penalties in the Federal Court later this week.

Three local tech companies have tapped investors to raise a combined $20.1 million, with the funds to be put towards shoring up their balance sheets and further developing their products.

Triton Minerals is set to get a second chance after administrators Ferrier Hodgson released control of the business to a private gold company and a corporate finance firm, which will raise a combined $14.1 million and relist the graphite explorer on the ASX.

Gold and nickel miner Independence Group has announced a $280 million capital raising to bolster its balance sheet, making it the largest raising by a Western Australian company for 2016.

The Australian Securities Exchange has delayed the introduction of tougher listing requirements by three months, after stockbrokers and corporate advisers expressed concern about the changes. 

Protean Wave Energy has recruited former Woodside Petroleum executive Steve Rogers as its new managing director, with his predecessor Bruce Lane and chief technology officer Sean Moore both stepping down from their roles at the clean energy company today.

Guy Chalkley will stay on as chief executive of state-owned utility Western Power, with his appointment made official today.

The mining and civil division of Perth-based BGC has won two contracts for work in Queensland, worth a combined $114 million.

Ramelius Resources has raised $25 million from investors to fund a development program in the Murchison region that is targeting a 40,000 ounce increase in gold production by FY18.

Mark Bennett’s gold hopeful, S2 Resources, has tapped investors for a $12.1 million capital raising to fund ongoing work at its Polar Bear project near Norseman.

Engineering and construction business Valmec has won a $13.3 million contract for work on the first stage of the $1.12 billion NorthLink WA roads project, which is being built by John Holland.

Cockram Construction has won a $20.4 million contract for redevelopment of the Katanning Health Service.

Telecommunications company Norwood Systems says it still has enough funds to meet its development objectives for the coming financial year, despite failing to raise a minimum $1 million in a priority offer which it had previously said would be needed to fund those goals.

Point-of-sale financing group ThinkSmart has announced plans to undertake an $8.8 million capital raising, delist from the ASX and jump over to London’s AIM.

Subiaco-based Australis Oil & Gas has held its ground on its ASX debut, following completion of a $30 million initial public offering earlier this month.

Local entrepreneur Zhenya Tsvetnenko has tendered his resignation from the boards of listed companies DigitalX and Tech Mpire after being indicted by US prosecutors for participating in a scheme to defraud mobile phone customers.

Founder and managing director of Perth-based online property portal rent.com.au Mark Woschnak has announced his immediate resignation from the business.

Minerals explorer TNG has reignited plans to form a spin-out company by demerging its base metals portfolio through a subsidiary and floating it on the ASX.

House prices are expected to continue falling in Western Australia, with a survey of property professionals showing sentiment in WA is by far the worst of any state.

Medical dermatology company Botanix Pharmaceuticals has enjoyed healthy gains on its first day of trading on the ASX, after completing a reverse takeover of Bone Medical.

The largest shareholder in Metals X has sold a big line of stock and foreshadowed further sales, as the diversified miner announced plans to invest $15 million developing its Fortnum gold project.

The state government plans to cancel a new environmental review of the controversial Roe 8 highway extension project after winning a legal appeal today, but it remains unclear when contracts for the project will be awarded.