Mining

Gold miner Newcrest will take a $6.2 billion hit to its bottom line from writedowns on its assets in the 2012/13 financial year.

Premier Colin Barnett says he hasn't given up pushing for the Woodside-led Browse gas project to be developed onshore in the Kimberley.

Sundance Resources expects to sign up customers by the end of the year as it pins its hopes on producing iron ore in west Africa by 2017.

Global demand for resources will soar by up to 75 per cent over the next 15 years, but Australia is facing fiercer competition from rival nations, the head of BHP Billiton says.

The High Court has upheld Labor's controversial Minerals Resource Rent Tax, rejecting a challenge launched by miner Fortescue Metals Group.

The gold price is expected to improve over the long term thanks to strong demand in China and India, the World Gold Council says.

Pilbara-focused gold miner Millennium Minerals has reported good news in a gloomy industry with a maiden profit of just over $34 million for the first half of calendar 2013.

The world's third largest gold producer AngloGold Ashanti will bring its Tropicana mine into production ahead of schedule despite pushing ahead with an overall plan to cut costs by $US500 million.

Engineering company Downer EDI has recorded an 80 per cent increase in net profit but warns the next 12 months will be challenging.

Mining magnate Gina Rinehart has written to two of her children, making an offer which she hopes will bring their litigation to an end, a court has heard.

A shipping container carrying lead carbonate has buckled at Fremantle Port and cannot be secured for export.

Paladin Energy has completed a heavily discounted capital raising after scrapping the sale of a stake in its flagship African uranium mine after it failed to attract a high enough bid.

Andrew Forrest has condemned the naysayers who have declared China's and Australia's economic boom is all but over.

South African engineering and construction group Murray & Roberts has made a $430 million offer to win full control of Perth-based Clough, in which it already holds more than 60 per cent of the

Earthmoving equipment supplier Emeco is searching for a new chief executive after Keith Gordon decided to step down.

Rio Tinto has agreed to sell its majority stake in a New South Wales copper and gold mine to a Chinese firm.

OZ Minerals says it will take a hit of up to $240 million, largely due to lower copper and gold prices.

Australia's natural gas industry says it can keep the cash flowing once the mining boom is over, but its vast potential is under threat from excess green tape and a lukewarm political reception.

Mining giants BHP Billiton and its partners, including Rio Tinto, will spend $US3 billion ($A3.2 billion) to build a new seawater desalination plant at the Escondida mine in Chile.

Shares in OZ Minerals have dropped more than seven per cent after the miner warned it would produce less gold this year than previously expected.

Troubled gold miner Newcrest is expecting production to fall during the September quarter.

Gold has fallen as stronger economic data bolstered the US dollar and fanned worries about the end of US monetary stimulus measures.

Korab Resources boss Andrej Karpinski has threatened legal action against online stock market discussion site HotCopper over a report sent to the forum’s members.

BC Iron has reported a record production run at its joint venture Nullagine project it operates with Fortescue.

Customs officers and West Australian police are attempting to intercept an asylum seeker boat heading towards the Pilbara coast after it sailed near an oil and gas facility.

Santos has cut its production forecasts, but higher gas prices have helped boost the energy company's revenue.

Shares in oil and gas exploration company WHL Energy plunged in value today after a prospective partner pulled out of a $50 million-plus farm-in deal.

Perth-based contractor OTOC announced today it has acquired full ownership of a 700 person commercial kitchen/diner facility at a Fortescue Metals Group site.

Engineering company Downer has had its blasting services contracts in the mining sector extended for $230 million.

Iluka Resources' revenue from its mineral sands operations has dropped 42 per cent in the first half of 2013 after lower prices forced it to cut production.

Strike Energy has taken advantage of concern about an east coast gas supply shortage by negotiating a $52.5 million offtake deal with Orica to fast-track development of its Cooper Basin assets. Orica has agreed to buy up to 150 petajoules of natural gas over 20 years.