Esther Tanquintic-Misa

Despite the global slowdown that continues to trouble the world's financial markets and some nation's political stability, a number of international companies remain confident they will be able to carry out and push their businesses to viability and stability.

Chevron Corp. has announced drilling two gas discoveries in the Carnarvon Basin offshore Western Australia that are expected to reinforce expansion prospects into the $29 billion Wheatstone liquefied natural gas project.

With China and its steel making industry continuously slashing its production output and ultimately decreasing import demand, revenues of capesize ships that haul steel making raw materials iron ore and coal have been hardly hit and fell for a third day.

As Japan struggles to rise above the March 2011 tsunami and Fukushima nuclear disasters, the country is expected to turn to other fuels, notably gas in the form of imported liquefied natural gas (LNG), oil and coal to fill the nuclear gap.

Australia has been ranked as one of the world's nations whose government imposes a low tax rate on its citizens.

A new modeling tally released by the Australian federal government on Friday showed the workers' pension savings stand to gain more from the planned 30 per cent mining profits tax as it would boost pension funds to $535 billion by 2035.

Australian policy regulators have been urged to devise and implement fiscal plans that will help anchor the country as it glides and cushions itself on the impact brought about by the global economic slowdown.

Global diversified miner Anglo American Plc said on Thursday it is mulling to spend up to $US15 billion ($14.43bn) over the next eight years to expand its Australian coal operations.

Speculations are abuzz that Australia's coal market is nearing its zenith, what with the latest intent of Australian coal miner New Hope Corp. wanting to be bought out in the tune of $5 billion.

Australia, a country largely recognized as the world's biggest coal exporter by volume and a major contributor to the rise of developing economies, has been found also a major contributor to the global environment's rapid deterioration.

Queensland has attracted a record worth of $1.126 billion in resource exploration investment for Australia, Mining Minister Stirling Hinchliffe announced in a major mining conference in Brisbane Wednesday.

Thursday's trading session at the Australian Securities Exchange floor has been closed indefinitely because of a technical glitch.

Private Indian firms are reportedly looking into buying opportunities in Australia's natural resources sector.

Robust growth in mortgage loans has spurred a 20 per cent hike in cash earnings for the full year to $5.5 billion for the National Australia Bank Ltd., the nation's best-performing banking stock this year.

Benchmark spot iron-ore prices crashed deeply on Tuesday to its lowest level since July 2010 by a substantial 7.2 per cent fall - the biggest one-day drop in more than 26 months - to $128.50 a tonne. For over six weeks now, iron ore prices have been falling by more than 30 per cent.

Gold futures hit $1,700 an ounce on Wednesday after reaching almost 3 per cent in the previous session as investors and global markets await results if the eurozone leaders can indeed come up with a credible plan to end the euro zone debt crisis at a summit later in the day

Copper futures' strong two-day rally faced yet again a blank wall as hopes that Eurozone leaders will meet Wednesday to discuss and plan for a strategic action to curb Europe's debt crisis was cancelled at the last minute.

China's Citic Group and its subsidiary Citic Resources Holdings have agreed to accept the $5 billion takeover offer of Peabody Energy and ArcelorMittal for Macarthur Coal Ltd.

The Western Australian government has approved on Thursday the 570-km railway corridor infrastructure project that would enable Mid-West iron-ore projects gain access to the $5.9 billion proposed deepwater port at Oakajee.

The death of Libyan strongman Muammar Qaddafi on Thursday gave little bearing to oil markets.Oil prices dipped at around noon London time on news of Qaddafi's capture and injuries, before advancing later.

Unless the eurozone gets its act together and contain at the soonest time possible its growing fiscal crisis, prices of commodities such as copper and iron ore will see little stability in the coming weeks or even months.

Bayfield Ventures Corp. on Thursday announced drilling additional significant gold and silver intercepts on its 100% owned Burns Block property in the Rainy River District of north-western Ontario.

The "safe haven" commodity gold dropped two percent Thursday as apprehensions continue to hound investors wary over the Eurozone's ability to contain its debt crisis.

Shares of Australia's largest gold miner Newcrest Mining fell after the company reported its September quarter gold production slid from the previous quarter.

Gold, either for short-term or long-term investing, is still be the best commodity an existing or future investor can always look into. But for those who are more into long-term investing, it makes sense to invest not only in gold but in a number of broad-basket commodity as well.

Rio Tinto Ltd. had agreed to pay C$578 million ($567 million) to acquire Canadian uranium company Hathor Exploration Ltd., dislodging an earlier higher bid by rival Cameco Corp. of Canada.

Australia and its people are by far the wealthiest nation and citizens in the world, according to the 2011 Credit Suisse Global Wealth report.

Contract prices of steelmaking ingredient coking coal will slide below $240 per metric ton between now through the fourth quarter of 2012 as nations continue to ride to a continuing global economic slowdown that will in turn ease demand for the metallurgical raw commodity, energy forecaster Wood Mackenzie said in a report Wednesday

The labor problems plaguing Qantas Airways for months now have given competitor Virgin Australia a wide opening to expand its market share.