Australia and NZ

Balancing risks against opportunities is always a difficult call, and it is a problem that ASX listed Middle Island Resources takes very seriously. That is why the company, which was established to develop gold prospects in West Africa, has focused on countries that have an ‘acceptable’ level of sovereign risk, and in which there has been some precedent of successful mining.

Located 23 kilometres south of Perth, on the coast of Western Australia, is the Australian Marine Complex (AMC), the Southern Hemisphere’s premier integrated marine industrial facility. A world-class centre for excellence in manufacturing, fabrication, assembly, maintenance and technology development, it is home to more than 150 businesses. These businesses are separated into four main precincts; fabrication, support industry, technology and shipbuilding.

Mr Holland’s words follow Gold Fields deal to purchase three mines in the Yilgarn South region of Western Australia from Barrick for $300 million. The three mines in question -Granny Smith, Darlot and Lawlers – produced 450,000 ounces of gold in 2012 and reported 2.6-million ounces of gold reserves plus 1.9-million ounces of gold resources at the end of December.

The bank made a net profit of A$7.7 billion ($7 billion) for the year to 30 June, up 8 percent from the previous year. This impressive figure is the result of a combination of growing deposits and a higher margin between the rate of interest earned on loans and the rate paid out to savers.

The $820 million purchase is to the benefit of both partners, with Rio Tinto looking to sell assets as part of a $5 billion cost-cutting plan and China Molybednum following the lead of other Chinese firms keen to buy resource assets as they look to serve domestic demand.

BHP said that production had jumped by nine percent to 187 million tonnes for the year to 30 June, news that analysts have reacted to by claiming it meant that the commodity giants were betting on continued strong demand from China, despite the country's economy seeing a slowdown in growth.

Since it was established in 1985, Australian Satellite Communications (ASC) has provided a wide range of satellite communications solutions throughout Australia and surrounding regions, building up a reputation along the way as being the leading provider of reliable, turnkey satellite communications solutions, focusing on the mining, oil & gas, construction, education, defence, and maritime, industries.

It has happened. Vanessa Guthrie told us she was not anxious about the twice delayed approval by Australia's Federal Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities Tony Burke to go ahead with Toro Energy's A$269 million Wiluna uranium mine, but the uncertainty must have cast a bit of a cloud over the Easter break.