Australia and NZ

Richard Beazley, managing director of Peak Resources, talks to Gay Sutton about the discovery of a world class rare earths mineral deposit in Tanzania and how the company is transitioning from exploration to mining.

This is the sort of discovery that most geologists go into mining for, and the anticipation is palpable at Australian exploration company Peak Resources. On 29 February, Peak announced its first maiden resource at Ngualla in south-west Tanzania.

Western Power brings electricity to Australia’s fastest growing region. Fuelling that growth is costly; but the Perth Solar City programme is helping to solve the grid’s problems—and those of its customers too.

As the hub for Western Australia’s mining activity, lying close to the port of Fremantle, the city of Perth has been the recipient of a great deal of state and federal investment to ensure its infrastructure keeps pace with its strategic economic importance.

In the 15 months since listing on the Australian Securities Exchange, junior exploration company Radar Iron (ASX: RAD) has established a pipeline of iron ore prospects in the Yilgarn region of Western Australia. Managing director Jonathan Lea talks to Gay Sutton about the thrill of the chase.

With more than half a million ounces of gold resource outlined in its 614 square kilometre properties in New South Wales, and the expectation of going on to discover 10 times that amount, Hill End Gold is on the brink of commencing production.

DuPont announced today an extension of its collaboration with the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics (ACPFG) to improve the productivity of cereal crops.

The expanded program brings a new focus on advanced cereal breeding through molecular markers, discovery research for agronomic traits and hybrid seed production in wheat. 

Going from heavy engineering to lightweight composite materials has changed the fortunes of one Australian company, as Alan Swaby discovers.

It’s not that the world is short of oil and gas. No, there is still plenty—but none of it is in readily accessible places any more. Deep water offshore drilling continues to find new reserves—but at depths of up to 3,500 metres or more, and you can imagine what 3.5 kilometres of steel tubing weighs.    

Paul Benson, CEO of junior Australian gold mining company, Troy Resources, talks to Gay Sutton about the challenges and rewards of low cost gold production.

There are not many gold mining companies, large or small, that have been able to deliver cash dividends to their shareholders 12 times over the last 12 years. Australia-based Troy Resources has not only achieved this, but continued to do so during 2008 when the world slipped into global recession. So what is the secret behind this impressive track record? 

Western Australia is one of the boom regions of the world, and its capital city Perth—home to 75 per cent of the state’s inhabitants—is the epicentre of its economic growth. Over the next three years, A$750 million is being invested in improvements to Perth Airport and its accessibility.

When it comes to issues such as safety, security and emergency/crisis management, in-house knowledge may not always be enough. Bringing in specialist expertise ensures that no stone is left unturned in the implementation of robust and comprehensive systems to cover every eventuality.

Perth, Western Australia-based Alegra Safety is a consultancy offering safety management, risk management, emergency management, security management and OHS auditing to businesses of all sizes across the world.

Western Australia’s Water Corporation has commenced the expansion of its second major water desalination plant to end dependency on climate sensitive rainfall. Project director Nick Churchill updates Gay Sutton about project managing for a speedy and cost-effective outcome.