When the global economic crisis took hold, the price of palladium plummeted, leaving newly arrived president and CEO Bill Biggar with a tough decision regarding the fate of North American Palladium Ltd. Two years later he tells Andrew Pelis about the company’s rapidly changing status.

The president and COO of Endeavour Silver Corp. explains to David Hendricks how using modern exploration methods on old mine properties can uncover new, undiscovered veins.

World air cargo traffic will expand at a 5.9 percent annual rate over the next two decades, with worldwide air freight traffic expected to triple through 2029, according to the Boeing World Air Cargo Forecast 2010/2011.

Boeing released the biennial forecast, which is widely cited by airlines and industry groups, at the International Air Cargo Forum and Exhibition 2010 in Amsterdam.

Profits at the Middle East airline Emirates more than quadrupled in the first half of this year, thanks to increases in both passengers and cargo.

The Dubai-based carrier said it recorded the highest number of seats with paying passengers during the six months ending September than ever in a fiscal first half.

Passenger traffic rose by 17.3 per cent from the previous year, with a passenger seat factor of 81.2 per cent. Cargo tonnage also rose, by 23.7 per cent.

Fulcrum BioEnergy is poised to begin construction on its first facility that will produce ethanol from household waste. Keith Regan learns how this trash-to-energy plant could be the first step toward a network of such facilities capable of producing a billion gallons a year of clean, renewable transportation fuel.

Transcend United Technologies and Spectrum Solutions announced today that they are joining forces to create a large IT and communications technology provider with a significant presence in the Twin Cities.

The new entity has advanced capabilities working with Cisco, Avaya, Nortel, ShoreTel, Riverbed and other IT and communications vendors, and becomes one of the largest technology resellers in North America.

The UK’s BG Group has approved its biggest ever investment, a £9.3 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) development in north-east Australia.

Following environmental approvals from the Australian government, the company will now proceed with the first phase of the project—to build a liquefaction plant on Curtis Island, Queensland.

The project will also involve construction of a 540 kilometre pipeline to move gas from the Queensland interior, where the gas will be drilled using 6,000 bore holes, to the liquefaction plant.

As part of a comprehensive plan to modernize and expand its fleet of equipment, Amtrak is buying 70 new electric locomotives to provide improved performance and reliability for its Northeast intercity passenger rail services.

The six-year, $466 million contract was awarded to Siemens and will create 250 jobs primarily at a facility in Sacramento, California, but also at plants in Norwood, Ohio and Alpharetta, Georgia.

Poland’s Kulczyk Holding has been selected for exclusive talks to buy the state’s 51 per cent in Enea, the country’s third largest power generator.

The decision means that France’s GDF Suez is now out of the running to buy the utility.

Kulczyk will have until November 3 to negotiate the purchase of the government’s shares, worth more than five billion zlotys (approximately €1.2 billion).

Kulczyk Holding has emphasised that, if successful, it hopes to build a private Polish energy company around Enea.