Mining

Nickel explorer Sirius Resources is suddenly worth more than established miners Western Areas and Perseus Mining after new drilling results triggered another spectacular run-up in its share price.

Shares in GR Engineering have jumped on the ASX this morning, after the company announced a £75 million ($111 million) contract with Wolf Minerals at the Hemerdon tungsten and tin mine in England.

Shares in iron ore hopeful Flinders Mines have risen after it struck a deal with four Chinese steel mills that brings its mine closer to reality.

 A legal challenge against the federal government's mineral resources rent tax has started in the High Court with lawyers for miner Andrew Forrest arguing the controversial impost breaches the

Three WA-based oil and gas juniors have entered separate agreements collectively worth nearly $230 million with Hong Kong-based investment house Canadian Pan Ocean, covering the highly-prospective

Engineering group Parsons Brinckerhoff has signed on as a project management consultant at Gina Rinehart’s $10 billion Roy Hill iron ore development in the Pilbara.

Global oil and gas heavyweight BP is keeping tight-lipped about whether it wants the controversial Browse gas project built onshore, or offshore using floating technology.

Nearly a third of voters believe the federal government's controversial mining tax should be amended to raise more money rather than being dumped altogether, a new survey has found.

Rio Tinto expects iron ore prices will fall 50 per cent from current levels to around per tonne over the next 18 months.

Australian junior miners' growth ambitions are being stymied by a lack of federal government support, a new report says.

The new chief executive at driller Boart Longyear, Richard O'Brien, will take a pay cut of about one-third.

Sandfire Resources has reported its maiden interim profit, as it continues to ramp up production at the DeGrussa open pit and underground copper-gold mine near Meekatharra.

A rise in iron ore and coal exports is expected to have been the major driver of economic growth in an otherwise weak final three months of 2012.

Miner Lynas Corporation will have a new chief executive from April as it ramps up its production of rare earths products.

Australia's export commodity prices rose for the fourth consecutive month in February, Reserve Bank of Australia figures show.

Shares in Sirius Resources have surged today after the company announced further promising nickel exploration results near Norseman.

Fresh from announcing plans to develop the Iron Valley mine in the Pilbara, Mineral Resources has become the eleventh Western Australian company in the S&P/ASX 100 Index.

Aurora Oil & Gas has acquired a large slice of highly-prospective oil and shale gas acreage in South Texas for $US117.5 million.

Growth at the tail end of 2012 might not have been as upbeat as expected, but new data suggests the economy will continue to be underpinned by mining investment for a while yet.

Engineering and construction contractor VDM Group has reported a blow-out in its half-year loss to $60 million, up from a loss of $47 million in the previous corresponding period.

Mining giant Rio Tinto has appointed the former BHP Billiton executive Chris Lynch as its new chief financial officer, 18 months after he joined Rio as a non-executive director.

Engineering company Sedgman has signed a $90 million contract to design and build a new gold processing plant near Kalgoorlie for La Mancha Resources.

Iron Ore Holdings and Mineral Resources have struck an agreement that will result in the development this year of the Iron Valley mine in the Pilbara.

Shares in Matrix Composites and Engineering have plunged to their lowest level since the company listed on the ASX in 2009, following the release of a major earnings downgrade.

Former Ernst and Young managing partner in Perth Jeff Dowling has been appointed chairman of nickel-explorer Sirius Resources.

Gindalbie Metals chairman George Jones will step down from the role in April - coinciding with the company officially launching its Karara iron ore project in the Mid West.

The tiny community of Pardoo is set to feel the full force of Severe Tropical Cyclone Rusty, which is set to cross the coastline this afternoon.

PMI Gold Corporation is on the hunt for a new chairman, after Peter Buck announced his resignation following the company's collapsed merger deal with Canada's Keegan Resources.

A Perth court has confirmed Wright Prospecting's full control over the large Rhodes Ridge iron ore project in the Pilbara after a challenge by Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting.

BC Iron has reported an interim net profit of $7.7 million, a result it described as soft in light of recent optimism in the iron ore market.

Mining services company MacMahon Holdings will post a loss of up to $20 million this financial year because of its troubled construction business.

Engineering firm UGL's first half profit has slumped by 53 per cent due to $25 million in costs from a restructure.