Palmer puts WA project on hold due to resource tax

Mining magnate Clive Palmer says his iron ore company has put a West Australian project on hold because of the federal government’s resources super profits tax.

Mr Palmer continued his attack on the government today, saying he is prepared to put everything he has got into fighting the new tax.

He said the board of directors of his company Mineralogy decided to put the brakes on one of his planned Balmoral South iron ore projects in the Pilbara region on Tuesday due to growing uncertainty over the tax.

Source  :  www.watoday.com.au

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Fortescue Metals unveils concept for new mine, new rail and new port

The project, known as Solomon is expected to cost around US$3,34bn.

Within the next two years Western Australia’s big new iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX: FMG) will decide whether it will open up a new iron ore mining area in the Pilbara of Western Australia.

The project known as Solomon was detailed at the Sydney Mining Club and was said to have a development cost of A$3.6 billion (US$3.34 billion).

Fortescue launched its operations through the Cloudbreak mine in the Chichester Range to export to China through a port developed by the company at Anderson Point in Port Hedland. The company has started development on its second mine, Christmas Creek, also in the Chichester Range.

Solomon is well west of Cloudbreak. It was indicated the company’s capacity out of Port Hedland may cater only for ore from the Chichester hub, so a second port and new rail link would be required to a Pilbara port at Anketell Point – particularly if Fortescue ramps up beyond 155 million tonnes per annum of export ore.

The cost of developing Solomon would take in A$850 million (US$790.8 million) for the mine, a similar amount for the railway, and A$700 million (US$651.3 million) for processing plant

The company claimed that while a lot more drilling was required the Solomon hub had potential to be much larger than the Chichester Ranges operations, currently mining at a rate of 38 Mtpa and gearing to increase to 95 Mtpa.

The Solomon mine could begin at 60 Mtpa, expanding to 100 Mtpa.

While Cloudbreak and Christmas Creek are bedded iron formations, not mined elsewhere in the Pilbara at this stage, Solomon has a mix in its iron ore geology and includes what is known as channel iron deposits.

Sydney Mining Club delegates were told that exploration in the Pilbara in the past five years has yielded reserves and resources for Fortescue of 6.3 billion tonnes, including reserves of 1.6 billion tonnes.  The discovery cost was put at A2cents a tonne.

Fortescue dominates the landholdings for iron ore in the Pilbara with 17,400 square kilometres, compared to Rio Tinto with 11,000 sq km and BHP Billiton 6,500 sq km.

Fortescue’s holdings include a large number of coastal and offshore tenements, assumedly for ironsands shed over the eons. The company also holds coastal and offshore tenements in New Zealand for ironsands.

Source  :  www.mineweb.co.za

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Work at Barrow Island could start by Christmas, Chevron

Initial work at the Chevron-led Gorgon gas project could begin before Christmas if final investment is approved by the three joint venture partners.

The proposed development, which was given final environmental approval today, will create as many as 10,000 jobs at its peak and underpin a major expansion of liquefied natural gas (LNG) production across Australia.

Chevron greater Gorgon area general manager Colin Beckett said a few other formal approvals were needed before a final investment decision was made.

He said he did not want to pre-empt the decision, which should be made “fairly soon”.

But Chevron was committed to the project, he said.

“We now need to just turn our attention to finalising a few other formal approvals which will be of much lower profile,” Mr Beckett said.

Once those are out of the way we will be able to finalise our final investment decision.”

Mr Beckett said that once a decision had been made the next step would be to place purchase orders and contracts for project construction.

He said the company had already committed to $2 billion of contracts.

“By Christmas we would be starting to do some of the initial work on Barrow Island while in other places we complete our design and get on with the procurement activity,” he said.

“So we’ll be making early strides there and by the end of next year we’ll be working pretty flat out on Barrow Island itself.”

Accommodation for 3,300 fly-in, fly-out workers will be included in the construction phase, which is expected to create 7,000 jobs for people working on the project and a further 3,000 in spin-off employment.

Mr Beckett said the project would draw labour from across Australia.

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New animal-friendly airline Pet Airways a hit

PEOPLE love their pets, sometimes more than they love other people.

So it is not a surprise that a start-up company, Pet Airways, has had a massive response since offering to transport dogs and cats in a much more caring way.

Precious pets won’t be left to fend for themselves in cages in a freezing cargo hold – an experience that so scared a Jack Russell terrier owned by husband-and-wife team Alysa Binder and Dan Wiesel that they decided to launch Pet Airways.

All of the passengers using the new airline’s cargo plane get to travel in the front of the plane in special carriers installed instead of seats.

They are escorted to the plane by pet-loving attendants who check on their precious cargo every 15 minutes.

The pets are given pre-boarding walks and bathroom breaks and also have access to a “Pet Lounge” where future fliers can wait and sniff the furniture before flights.

The demand for the service has been staggering, with flights rapidly booked out for the first two months.

Operating between regional airports in New York, Washington, Chicago, Denver and Los Angeles, Pet Airways charges about $315 per trip, which is comparable with charges on less pet-friendly airlines.

The company is already looking to add more flights and cities soon, and hopes to fly to 25 destinations within three years.

Betsy Saul, co-founder of Petfinder.com which ranks the pet-friendliness of various airlines, said she was excited about the expected impact Pet Airways would have on pet travel across major airlines.

”The entire industry will stretch because of Pet Airways,” Betsy told the Associated Press.

Source : www.news.com.au

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Relief for stranded Rotto travellers

Relief is on the way for stranded holidaymakers on Rottnest Island after a major ferry service decided to brave dubious weather conditions this weekend.

Rottnest Express had cancelled services until Monday, after forecasts of gale-force winds. It left up to 200 people stranded on the island until at least Monday, after the other operator, Oceanic Express, also decided against taking to the sea this weekend.

But Rottnest Express today decided to run skeleton services this weekend, with four trips to the island, and two back, tomorrow and Sunday.

Chief executive Tim Crosland said the company believed it had an obligation to always provide services “if safe”.

Each scheduled journey would be assessed on the prevailing weather conditions, he said.

Oceanic Express is running a service today for pre-booked passengers.

Source www.watoday.com.au

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Storms force cancellation of Rottnest ferry services

Gale force winds tipped to hit Perth this weekend have forced two ferry operators to cancel all trips to Rottnest Island.                                                                        

The popular Rottnest Express confirmed it has cancelled all bookings from Friday to Sunday inclusive while Oceanic Cruises will not operate on Saturday or Sunday.

The third company which operates ferry trips to the island, Rottnest Fast Ferries, was already closed until July 3 for its regular winter break.

A Rottnest Express spokesman confirmed there had been “a few” bookings and all passengers would be issued refunds, while Oceanic Cruises did not have any bookings for this weekend.

Bureau of Meteorology public weather services manager Neil Bennett said waters from Yanchep to Mandurah and offshore to Rottnest Island could expect winds reaching between 30 to 40 knots on Friday and Saturday.

Mr Bennett said it was likely the Bureau would issue at least a strong wind warning but likely a gale force wind warning for the area.

Source  :   www.thewest.com.au

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Are you Australia’s next Apprentice ?

Channel Nine has announced an Australian version of The Apprentice will be made, to be fronted by Wizard Finance creator Mark Bouris.  

To be produced by FremantleMedia Australia, it’s a surprising move given the franchise is now several years old and hardly considered “hot property” anymore. It’s been some time since we’ve seen The Trump on free-to-air, and even Seven’s attempt at the UK Apprentice, with Alan Sugar, didn’t exactly light up our screens either.

So can a local version work? FremantleMedia at least has a good track record at Australian adaptations of international series, including MasterChef Australia, Australian Idol, The Biggest Loser and Project Runway Australia.

Nine also found that its local version of Ladette to Lady did quite nicely, thank you. But in this game there are no guarantees.  Neither Australian Survivor or Celebrity Survivor, which like this format are both Mark Burnett franchises, worked in Australia.

It will also be risky launching a show that has succeeded with its wealthy excess in a time of recession.  But most reality shows hinge on their casting. Mark Bouris is offering the winner of the local series an executive position in his financial-services firm company, Yellow Brick Road on a cool six-figure salary.

To be part of my team you will need to understand the concept that everyone has financial dreams, and that this is something that all Australians are entitled to, he says. “In many cases owning your own home and a comfortable retirement is ultimately what people want. For me empathy is really important and I’m not interested in an apprentice who only wants to look after the top end of the financial spectrum.  Being in my team means that you will want to help both.”

If you are aged 18 and over from August 1st and available for filming from July to September then you’ve met the first two criteria for auditions. You can apply for the show until Friday July 3rd at www.ninemsn.com.au/apprentice.

The show is due to screen later this year.

Source  :  http://www.tv.com/story/15621.html

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ABC Learning’s UK business sold – Receiver

THE receiver of ABC Learning Centres has sold the childcare group’s UK arm for an undisclosed sum.

ABC’s UK business, called Busy Bees Group, was purchased by Singapore-based company Knowledge Universe Education, Chris Honey of McGrathNicol said today. 

Mr Honey said Busy Bees Group, which is the UK’s largest children’s nursery group, will continue to be operated by its existing senior management.

“As receivers, we are very happy with the value realised for this business, and are pleased to have sold it to an internationally respected childcare provider,” he said.

He said Busy Bees Group was in a similar situation to ABC’s business in New Zealand, as it was not itself in receivership and had continued to trade profitably.

Mr Honey said the sale of the ABC in New Zealand was progressing well and that strong interest from a number of bidders had led to an extension of the sale timetable.

Mr Honey said no decision had been made yet on a timetable for the sale of the Australian business.

“The ABC Learning centres in Australia continue to trade well, with the focus remaining firmly on providing high quality childcare, driven by the local ABC centre staff at a community level,” Mr Honey said.

ABC, Australia’s largest childcare centre operator, went into administration and receivership in November 2008, owing more than $1 billion.

Source www.news.com.au

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Kimberley boat fire ‘not suspicious’

A fire that destroyed a 24m cruiser in the North-West on Wednesday night has been declared not suspicious by FESA.  

Kimberley Quest was gutted by fire while on a slipway in Broome, with damage estimated at $3 million.

FESA’s fire investigation officer Kim Maldon and police arson today ruled out arson but said the cause of the fire would remain undetermined.

A small amount of fuel and oil spilt onto the beach as a result of the blaze. It is understood volunteer firefighters and the Broome Port Authority kept the environmental impact to a minimum.

Operated by family business Pearl Sea Coastal Cruises, the vessel is one of two cruisers owned by the company, the other being the luxurious tourist vessel Kimberley Quest II cruising through the Kimberley.

Kimberley Quest was the company’s original tourist cruiser from 2000 until 2005 but is now used solely as a scientific research vessel.

Source www.thewest.com.au

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Property tycoon vows to defend legal action

WA property tycoon Nigel Satterley has vowed to defend legal action against the Satterley Property Group by a group of Secret Harbour families who claim the company mislead them over the location of the Mandurah road and rail. 

The group of nine families lodged their writs in the Federal Court this morning claiming they were the victims of a breach of the Federal Trade Practices Act and a breach of contract.

The families claim they were not told about the realignment of the Mandurah road when they purchased their blocks.

They claim the omission resulted in the busy road being metres from their doorsteps, and that they were misled about the close proximity of the Mandurah railway.

The residents are being represented by high-profile lawyer John Hammond.

Mr Satterley said the allegations against Satterley Property Group would be strongly defended.

Source www.thewest.com.au

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