Matt Mckenzie

As WA’s last mega mining project swings into operations mode, there’s more pain ahead for employment and investment numbers.

Gold and base metals producer Metals X has been given an environmental tick for the Wingellina nickel project east of Warburton, although with prices close to their lowest level since the financial crisis a new development may be some way off yet.

A re-elected Coalition government will adopt the lion’s share of recommendations from Dyson Heydon’s trade union royal commission, Employment Minister Michaelia Cash told the National Press Club today.

A recent analysis of economic performance across nearly seven decades of Australian prime ministers by the Australia Institute found Malcolm Turnbull to have the poorest track record. But is that fair?

Iron ore miner Mineral Resources has added another string to its bow, taking a 19.3 per cent stake in domestic gas supplier Empire Oil & Gas, a week after the company increased its slice of the Mt Marion lithium project.

It's the end of the beginning for what had been Western Australia’s only remaining major iron ore project under construction, Citic Pacific’s Sino Iron, according to chief executive Chen Zeng, as the final two of six magnetite ore processing lines enter production.

SPECIAL REPORT: WA’s economic slowdown hasn’t led to the dramatic rise in insolvencies many had expected, according to leading industry representatives.

An increase to the minimum wage announced today will mean Western Australian businesses pay roughly $20 per week more for mimimum wage workers than their eastern states counterparts, while the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of WA warns it will have a flow-on effect on employment.

The $3.6 million allocated to the sector in the recent state budget is an early salvo in attempts to expand WA’s economic offering.

A timely dose of regulatory assistance is benefiting Australian financial technology startups, according to CrowdfundUP founder and managing director Jack Quigley.

SPECIAL REPORT: Growing infrastructure needs and a diminishing capacity to fund them is a major challenge for WA, according to key players who attended a recent Business News forum.

Mineral Resources has upped its stake in the Mt Marion lithium project, one of the state’s few mining operations under construction, to see out a week that had a series of deals for the metal.

A successful Oil Search takeover of Interoil will be one factor that could help trim billions off the cost of LNG projects in Papua New Guinea in the next two decades, according to consultants Risc.

Shares in Rox Resources more than doubled today on the back of a strong zinc and lead drilling result at a project in the Northern Territory, while Dacian Gold was up 7 per cent following results in Western Australia.

Chinese manufacturer Ganfeng Lithium has more than doubled its offtake agreement with Mineral Resources and Neometals for the Mt Marion project, as  interest in the commodity continues to build.

Western Australian state final demand has contracted for the 10th consecutive quarter, while national GDP figures grew at their fastest rate for nearly four years

Two Rio Tinto iron ore project expansions worth a total of $367 million have been approved by the state government, extending the life of the operations and helping the company maintain its production levels in the medium term.

The state government-controlled Perth Mint has thwarted a security breach by one of its contractors.

Joe McDonald was among six Construction, Forrestry, Mining and Energy Union officials hit with a fine for illegally blockading a construction site in 2013, preventing 160 employees from attending work at the project.

Australia’s national LNG production capacity is nearing 50 million tonnes per annum, as Santos today brought Train 2 online at its Gladstone project.

THE sale of major public assets is looming as the only realistic option for a government of either stripe hoping to reclaim the state’s AAA credit rating and fund infrastructure needs in the decade

WA has had nearly $170 billion redistributed to other states by the federal government during the past 10 years, with the GST only one tax with a problem.

With a strong focus on cutting costs in mining, many WA small businesses are developing ways to dig up resources smarter and cheaper.

Nationals leader Terry Redman says the party remains opposed to the sale of Fremantle Ports, despite supporting treasurer Mike Nahan's introduction today of a bill to enable a lease of up to 99 years to proceed.

The state’s high labour costs and lack of available farmworkers will make it difficult to compete globally in agribusiness, potato grower Tony Galati told today’s Business News Success & Leadership breakfast.

Treasurer Mike Nahan hopes to raise $16 billion from an expanded asset sales program, with Western Power and Horizon Power’s Pilbara transmission lines now targeted but two other assets unexpectedly removed from the government's sell-off list.

Treasurer Mike Nahan has poured cold water on a report that argued Western Power was a major cash spinner for the government, saying the corporation paid a net dividend of less than $30 million to the state last year.

The gap between the state’s minimum wage and the national floor should be reduced to prevent putting low-paid workers at risk of job losses, according to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of WA’s submission to the upcoming state wage case.

More than 1,000 Western Australian companies went into external administration in the 12 months to March, an increase of nearly 36 per cent on the same period last year, according to the latest ASIC data.

A growing uptake of technology for farming practices is likely among the state’s agribusinesses in coming months, according to the latest Commonwealth Bank Agri Insights survey.

Creditors of movie streaming service Quickflix changed administrators to Deloitte, just two weeks after the company voluntarily appointed partners from Ferrier Hodgson.

Swiss commodities multinational Glencore has taken an 8.5 per cent stake in battling iron ore miner Atlas Iron through subsidiary Maru Sky.