MANUFACTURING

IUCN (The International Union for Conservation of Nature) and Australia's third largest mining firm Rio Tinto today entered into a formal collaboration agreement, committing to work together over a three-year period.

Arrow Energy Ltd. said it has not formally received an approved offer from China's state-owned PetroChina of its bid to acquire the A$3.5 billion ($3.1 billion) Australian coal-seam gas producer.

NQBP Corp (North Queensland Bulk Ports Corporation), the government owned construction firm, has announced plans of exploring the viability of building a new Dudgeon Point export terminal, granting rights to Adani Group, an Indian construction firm, to head the project.

Andrew Forrest's Fortescue Metals Group stands the Gillard government's proposed minerals resources rent tax (MRRT) should not proceed in its current shape.

A sluggish morning trading affected Australia's stock market S&P/ASX 200 Index as it declined 0.3 percent to 4,397.50 as of 12:48 p.m. in Sydney. New Zealand's NZX 50 Index shed off 0.3 percent to 3,004.56 in Wellington.

Minara Resources has reported its share of nickel produced at the Murrin Murrin mine in Western Australia slumped 15 per cent both on quarter and from the previous year.

Queensland premier Anna Bligh has confirmed industry talk the state government has been encouraging proponents to combine projects.

India's biggest coal importer, the Adani Group, was picked to develop an export fuel facility in Australia, reports said.

Asian stocks rose, led by Japanese exporters and commodity producers. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.2 percent at 116.46 as of 1:03 p.m. in Tokyo, extending a two-day, 2.6 percent rally.

Australian pharmaceutical firm, Sigma Pharmaceuticals Ltd., that has lost more than half its market value this year, said it is willing to work a better deal with Aspen Pharmacare Holdings Ltd. to have a better offer.

Australia's S&P/ASX200 was little changed at 4,396.40 as of 10:41 a.m. in Sydney. New Zealand's NZX 50 Index was little changed at 3,005.38 in Wellington.

Mining tycoon Clive Palmer has unveiled plans to build a new coal loading port facility north of the existing facility at Abbott Point in north Queensland.

The first ever coal-seam project for Gladstone may only be fictitious, but Santos claims it’s already put in consolidation.

Gloucester Coal of Australia intends to raise equity to buy shares in coal mines from its loading shareholder, Singaporean-owned Noble Group, the most recent on a series of deals in the growing coal industry.

Rio Tinto is looking to ramp up projects again after the Gillard government's switch from the resource super-profits tax (RSPT) to the minerals resource rent tax (MRRT).

BHP Billiton Ltd has declined to reveal the total effective tax it will pay under the Gillard government's mineral resource rent tax, according to The Australian.

Santos Ltd is near to signing a $2 billion contract with Royal Dutch Shell involving the sale of a stake in its coal seam gas-to-liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, according to the Australian Financial Review.

Shares in Australian building materials group Boral slumped 9.6 per cent, from $4.89 to $4.40, yesterday after the completion of the $274 million institutional part of its $490 million rights issue.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said she is amenable to discuss a disputed natural gas project in East Timor to gain support for asylum seekers.

BHP Billiton-Mitsubishi Alliance and Prime Infrastructure Group shut berths at two terminals of the Hay Point port, the world's biggest export harbor for coal, to carry out planned maintenance.

Chinalco is keen on purchasing a direct minority stake in one of the world's largest undeveloped gold-and-copper mine deposits.

Ian Blackburne should consider stepping down from chairmanship given CSR's recent losses, according to the Australian Shareholders' Association (ASA).

The Gillard government's decision to pacify mining companies by revamping the resource tax could cost the budget $35 billion in revenue this decade, a report says.

Chevron Asia Pacific Exploration and Production Co said it had found deepwater natural gas deposits off the coast of Western Australia, putting in a new potential to the company’s Clio development.

Xstrata Coal's $186 million of investment in early works and exploration in Queensland, including the $6 billion Wandoan coal project, has resumed after the announcement of a revised resource rent tax, according to the company.

The life of public floats for the rest of the year has been cast into uncertainty after volatile equity markets claimed the $1.3 billion offer of Bilfinger Berger's Valemus, Australia's second-biggest civil construction company.

Chief Executive Don Matthews, of the Penola Pulp Mill subsidiary, said yesterday that he is confident that construction of the largest ever mechanical pulp mill will become a reality soon.

Boral has identified a new strategic model and has announced its plans of raising $490 million to support investment and reinforce its balance sheet.

Canegrowers, the sugar lobbyist group, says it is ‘surprised’ about the sale of CSR’s sugar and renewables arm, Sucrogen, to Wilmar International Limited, a company based in Singapore.