Erik Pineda

Dr David Warren, the Australian inventor of the flight data recorder or more famously known as the ‘black box’, which investigators have largely relied on for decades in sifting clues to determine the cause of an airplane crash, is dead at 85.

In light of the of the ensuing water contamination scare that stemmed from Cougar Energy’s coal gasification plant closure in Kingaroy, South Burnett farmers issued confirmation on Wednesday that Biosecurity Queensland is conducting tests on their cattle herds for possible exposure to chemically-smeared water supplies.

Uranium miner Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN) said on Monday that negotiations are underway with NGM Resources Ltd (ASX: NGM) for a possible takeover agreement on the latter’s mining operations in Australia, West Africa and Madagascar.

Mounting calls for an urgent revisit and eventual upgrade of the safety measures at Launceston Airport attracted the support of the local government and business sectors with aviator Dick Smith declaring that aviation authorities must act now or any more meetings to discuss the issue would only amount to nothing.

Underground coal gasification (UCG) plant operator Cougar Energy Ltd (ASX: CXY) said on Tuesday that company securities were suspended from further trading as exchange authorities await the decision of Queensland government on whether to allow the resumption of its pioneering Kingaroy operations or to stay its current shuttered status.

High-end department store giant David Jones Ltd (ASX: DJS) said on Monday that it would have an early exit from its Toombul Centre lease in Queensland in order to focus on the richly profitable Chermside store in the Westfield Shopping Centre, which is about five kilometres from Toombul.

Mineral sands explorer Iluka Resources Ltd (ASX: ILU) revealed on Tuesday that total production for its June quarter only reached 418.2 kilotonnes, slumping by 9.6 percent from the 462.5 kilotonnes posted on the corresponding period last year.

A water contamination scare loomed over the South Burnett region in Queensland over the recent closure of Cougar Energy’s underground coal gasification (UCG) Kingaroy facility, where testing by the Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) showed that water supplies were smeared with carcinogenic chemicals.

After almost 50 years of attachment on Australia’s foremost media group, John B Fairfax is set to retire from the board of Sydney-based Fairfax Media Ltd (ASX: FXJ) as the company announced on Monday that the long-time board member would waive re-election bid for this year’s annual general meeting.

The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) said on Monday that it has given its approval for gold miner AngloGold Ashanti Ltd’s (ASX: AGG) proposed gold exploration site, which is about 330 kilometre northeast of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.

Oil and gas producer Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) said on Monday that it has acquired a $2 billion bilateral bank loan facility which it intends to use in boosting the company’s balance sheet flexibility and expansion plans that include its Gladstone liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Queensland.

The Farnborough International Airshow is set to start on Monday and on that backdrop, giant aircraft producers Boeing and Airbus are waiting in the wings while equally hoping that huge contracts would come their way amidst the emergence of much stiffer competition between the two rival companies.

Following the tragic death of its entire board and its consequent voluntary trading halt in June 21, Sundance Resources Ltd (ASX: SDL) stocks plummeted as the company re-emerged from a month-long market trading respite.

Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner said on Monday that Australians should not put their trust on opposition leader Tony Abbot even if the latter manifested his disapproval for Work Choices by resting his initials on a symbolic death certificate for the controversial legislation.

Africa-focused resource firm Riversdale Mining Ltd (ASX: RIV) announced on Monday that it has completed the first phase of the firm’s $276 million capital raising which should be partially allocated for the accelerated development of its Benga project in Mozambique.

Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon has expressed frustrations that Coles supermarkets are circumventing the government’s policy on restricting access on cigarettes and actually offer cheaper prices for the product.

Cougar Energy Ltd (ASX: CXY) said over the weekend that it is happy with the results of tests conducted by the Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) on the company’s Kingaroy underground coal gasification (UCG) facility in Queensland.

Australia’s private sector must get involve and invest in the country’s infrastructure projects and as the taxpayers’ dollar started drying up, the government must devise creative funding solutions in order to attract them.

Synthetic gas producer Carbon Energy Ltd (ASX: CNX) said on Friday that it is willing to accept any requests for environmental study on its Queensland facility as the state’s Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) had hinted that it may ask for an environmental evaluation of the company’s Blookwood Creek underground coal gasification (UCG) trial plant.

The world could not expect drastic adjustments on yuan’s rate as China is set to maintain its policy of managed currency exchange rate regime, arguing that that such measure was only in consideration of the country’s long term economic interest.

In an apparent preparation for the looming takeover by Royal Dutch Shell and PetroChina, Arrow Energy Ltd (ASX: AOE) has been granted by the Federal Court to spin off its Dart Energy Ltd unit, in which shareholders would be entitled to one Dart shares for every two Arrow shares that they hold.

Upcoming geothermal firm Geodynamics Ltd (ASX: GDY) said on Friday that it is close to realising an operating heat exchanger which should affirm the geological model being utilised by the company on its joint venture Innamincka project in South Australia.

Department store operator David Jones Ltd (ASX:DJS) said on Friday that it has agreed for a 20-year extension of the lease agreement for the company’s Karrinyup outlet in Perth, revealing that the new deal is “on attractive commercial terms in line with the more favourable David Jones leases.”

A joint statement released on Friday by the National Australia Bank Ltd (NAB) and AXA Asia Pacific Holdings (AXA-APH) revealed that the two companies are currently in talks to negotiate the terms of extending the period for NAB to satisfy competition concerns on its $13.3 billion takeover proposal for AXA.

Oil and gas explorer Advent Energy, a subsidiary of MEC Resources Ltd (ASX:MMR) said on Friday that subsequent tests on the newly-discovered natural gas resources off the New South Wales coast north of Sydney found that the reservoir could potentially yield twice the size from initial estimates.

Melbourne-based OZ Minerals announced on Thursday that it is set to commence development works on its underground mine at Prominent Hill in South Australia, which is projected to yield an average of 25,000 tonnes of copper and 12,000 tonnes of gold every year.

Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (FMG) said on Thursday that lingering reservations on the proposed minerals resource rent tax were holding back the firm’s final decisions on two impending giant projects at Solomon and Western hub in Western Australia.

China seems living up to economic speculations by global experts as Beijing stepped up its efforts to slow down the country’s accelerating expansion with the latest figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showing that the Chinese economy merely grew at a rate of 10.3 percent over the year and leading to June.

Queensland’s construction industry has been on the decline for the past three months as a new report by the Queensland Master Builders Association (QMBA) showed on Thursday that up to 75 percent of polled businesses believed that building activity would either decline or stabilise in the coming 12 months.