Mining

US oil prices have jumped to a four-month high due to the effects of a cold winter in the US and rising concerns about stability in some key oil exporters.

Perth-based gold companies Perseus Mining and Kingsrose Mining have strengthened their balance sheets after completing share placements worth a combined $40 million.

Panoramic Resources’ share price rocketed higher today after the company reported drill results that it described as a “potential game changer” for its Savannah nickel project.

Contractor Brierty has posted a 19 per cent half-year profit reduction as increased competition in the company's civil construction division squeezed its margins.

Seven Group Holdings chief executive Don Voelte has stepped down from his role as chairman of oil and gas junior Nexus Energy, saying the position was no longer appropriate as Seven Group eyes opportunities in the oil and gas sector.

Macmahon Holdings has returned to profitability but warned that tough conditions for companies servicing the mining industry are unlikely to pass anytime soon.

Engineering group RCR Tomlinson says its $140 million purchase of infrastructure business Norfolk Group is paying dividends, announcing a 14 per cent increase in half-year net profit.

Engineering contractor Monadelphous Group has posted a record half-year net profit of $87.1 million, with cost-cutting efforts offsetting softer revenue.

Alcoa of Australia has announced it will permanently close its Point Henry aluminium smelter at Geelong in August because it has "no prospect of becoming financially viable" in another blow to the nation's manufacturing sector.

Western Areas is looking to raise $104 million to reduce debt and provide greater financial flexibility after a positive half-year report which saw the nickel miner turn a big loss to a modest $2.7 million net profit.

BHP Billiton has delivered a better than expected half year profit based on cost cutting rather than commodity prices while predicting the good times to continue.

Gold and silver have hit fresh multi-month highs on the European spot market, although analysts say there are near-term risks to further gains.

The Australian Institute of Marine Science has teamed up with three universities for a major environmental study off the state's Kimberley coast that will be funded by gas project developers Shell

Engineering and property services group UGL is hopeful of growing earnings in 2014 despite fielding offers for its property business.

Freight rail operator Aurizon has suffered a 39 per cent slide in first half profit due to asset writedowns and redundancy costs.

Gold has posted the biggest weekly gain since August as signs of a faltering recovery in the US economy boosts demand for precious metals as a haven.

Opposition leader Bill Shorten has attempted to rebuild bridges with Western Australia's major mining identities, admitting to past Labor mistakes while touting Perth as the iron ore capital of the

A third consecutive year of weak uranium prices has led to Paladin Energy's half-year net loss increasing to $US255 million.

Perth-based mining services provider Calibre Group has been awarded a $22 million contract to provide management services for the brownfields expansion of Rio Tinto’s West Angelas iron ore mine in the State’s north west.

Newcrest Mining has suffered an 88 per cent profit drop after being hit by a slide in gold prices, a massive tax bill and writedowns.

Gold has posted the longest rally since July 2011, topping $US1,300 an ounce for the first time since November, after signs of faltering US economic growth added to the increasing investor appetite for haven assets.

Former WesTrac chief executive Jim Walker is set to step up to the role of chairman at Macmahon Holdings, replacing incumbent chair Ken Scott-Mackenzie who will retire next month.

Premier Colin Barnett has warned more workers could lose their jobs this year, after the collapse of contractor Forge Group and a jump in the state's unemployment rate.

Mining giant Rio Tinto posted a full-year profit of $US3.7 billion in 2013, with large cost reductions and production records driving its underlying profit growth.

Mike Young has been confirmed as the new chief executive of Energy and Minerals Australia as a condition of a deal to secure more debt funding for the uranium explorer.

Gold miner Doray Minerals plans to accelerate drill testing of near-mine exploration targets at its Andy Well gold project in the Murchison region following a $17 million capital raising.

Mining services company Mineral Resources is close to implementing ambitious plans to develop new transhipment facilities in the Pilbara and in Cockburn Sound to support growth in iron ore exports.

Perth-based Rumble Resources has signed an earn-in agreement with Blackham Resources for the acquisition of up to 75 per cent of the Zanthus project inside the Albany Fraser Tectonic Zone in the State’s south west.

Fortescue Metals Group has appointed the BAM Clough joint venture to design and construct a fifth iron ore loading berth at its Anderson Point facility in Port Hedland.

Maintenance and construction contractor AusGroup has returned to the black in the December quarter, with a tax credit offsetting the adverse impact of falling revenue.

OZ Minerals has announced a loss of nearly $300 million and the departure of its chief executive Terry Burgess.

Former Gindalbie Metals boss Garret Dixon has joined Watpac as a non-executive director, signaling the company’s interest in building up the Perth-headquartered mining contracting division of its b