Mining

Oil prices have dropped with the main European benchmark contract sinking to a 13-month low after a prominent petroleum forecaster slashed the demand outlook for 2014 and 2015.

Perth-based explorer NSL Consolidated has announced it has received $2.5 million from financer Effectivo, which will in turn receive 25 million of the company's shares.

Subiaco-based gold and metal base explorer Ironbark Zinc has announced a $2.5 million capital raising for permitting and pre-development works at its Citronen zinc project in Greenland.

Shares in junior oil and gas explorer Neon Energy have surged over 70 per cent on the news that the company had agreed to pay $US5.75 million to its Vietnamese joint venture partners, settling financial liabilities.

Origin Energy has completed its acquisition of Karoon Gas’s 40 per cent interest in its Browse Basin permits, which include the Poseidon gas discovery.

A coalition of state and national environmental groups have raised concerns about water contamination and other impacts on Western Australia’s largest national park.

Oil prices have finished mixed as traders kept watch on turmoil in Iraq, while anticipating another drop in US crude-oil inventories.

PLD Corporation has raised over $1 million after a share placement and entitlements issue closed heavily oversubscribed.

Fortescue Metals Group has awarded Perth-based Intellect Systems, a subsidiary of Resource Development Group, a control and engineering services contract for the first stage of its North Star magnetite project in the Pilbara.

VDM Group has responded to rumours it will acquire mining rights at an Angolan copper project by saying the potential acquisition is incomplete with no certainty on its terms.

FEATURE: Biotech and IT companies are enjoying renewed investor interest, but these innovative businesses are facing a changing capital raising market featuring less government support and, in Perth, a drastic shift in the venture capital sector.

Woodside Petroleum has bought a 40 per cent stake in a joint venture deep water exploration project off west Africa.

Iron ore explorer Gindalbie Metals has flagged a $640 million hit to its investment in Karara Mining, after it completed a review of its assets.

Perth gold miner Minera Gold has received $US4.5 million from investment company SilverStream to help fund the acquisition and proposed expansion of the San Santiago processing plant.

Gold prices have fallen, as concerns of a sooner-than-expected rise in US interest rates turned the tide of haven asset buying sparked by US airstrikes in Iraq.

Exploration and development company Cape Lambert has announced it will return almost $25 million to shareholders, just a week after a successful settlement with the Australian Tax Office.

The state government’s Mining Rehabilitation Fund initiative has met with almost unanimous industry uptake, Mines and Petroleum Minister Bill Marmion said today.

South African engineering firm DRA has partnered with Perth mine planning consultancy Orelogy, one week after buying collapsed Forge Group’s North American asset, Taggart Global.

US oil prices have rallied from a six-month low following reports that the Obama administration is considering air strikes in Iraq.

Rio Tinto has more than doubled its half-year net profit to $4.76 billion ($US4.4 billion), but the world's second largest miner was below consensus analyst expectations.

Two Perth-based resources juniors, Jameson Resources and Merah Resources, have entered trading halts today.

Oil and gas technology company Coretrack has secured ownership of a high-tech drilling rig after a legal battle with intellectual property licensor Strange Investments.

Hiring and investment is down in Kalgoorlie-Boulder as confidence falls in the wake of clouds overhanging the gold-mining industry.

Oil prices in New York have fallen again on worries about lower demand, even after an inventory report showed a surprising drop in US gasoline supplies.

Gold prices have risen to their highest level in nearly two weeks, as worries grew over economic weakness in the euro zone and tensions between Russia and the West.

RAC of WA and Spacecubed have become the first organizations in Perth to fund a ‘tech accelerator’, which should come as welcome relief to the cash-starved start-up sector.

Kalgoorlie’s Diggers & Dealers forum may not be for sale, officially, but the recent purchase of Cape Town’s Mining Indaba conference for $84 million puts a value of at least $24 million on Diggers, and that would be hard price for the owner, Kate Stokes, to reject.

West Perth-based coal miner Continental Coal has announced a non-renounceable $35.1 million rights issue as part of a recapitalization and restructure.

Brockman Mining chief executive officer Peter Luk has resigned today after conviction in a Hong Kong court yesterday.

Pilbara iron ore miner BC Iron predicts the iron ore price will head above $US100 per tonne over the next six months as demand for the company's product remains strong.

Iron ore explorer Sundance Resources has emerged victorious in the Supreme Court today after a damages claim was dismissed, but the Perth-based company will be in court again next year for a furthe

Most of the thousands of staff affected by the collapse of mining services and recruitment firm Bluestone Group have been saved from unemployment.