Esther Tanquintic-Misa

After four days of stiff and neck and neck competition in the 2012 London Olympics, Australia's total medal tally has so far reached six - one gold, three silver and two bronze. Australia's standing is in the 12th place on the medal tally.

A rising Australian dollar, coupled with cost increases and low domestic demand has pushed Australia's manufacturing sector to post its lowest ever growth in three years in July, which could also get worse with the implementation of the carbon tax.

In what is considered to be the first casualty of the carbon tax commotion, a Melbourne gym has been fined, and paid dearly, for its misleading claims on the supposed impact of the tax to the cost of its memberships.

The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), environmental watchdog of Western Australia, has given its support to the construction of a $6 billion worth 350 million tonne per year capacity iron ore processing port facility near Karratha.

Caltex Australia Ltd. is targeting a selloff of A$300 million worth of bonds to raise much needed additional capital amid the shutdown of its 57-year old Kurnell refinery in Sydney.

Approvals for building new home constructions dropped by 2.5 per cent in June, latest data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed, but was actually less than what industry experts had expected.

Grain growers in Western Australia are unsure they can replicate 2011's favourable production what with a persistent dry weather coupled with frost that could possibly affect overall grain yield for 2012- 2013.

Rio Tinto-controlled mining company Ivanhoe Australia on Monday announced it would reduce its budget for exploration spending by $15 million annually.

That Ford Australia recently slashed ­production to about 33,000 cars a year and laid off 440 employees are by means already telltale signs it will soon be padlocking the doors of its plants permanently in Australia.

Westfield, Australia's shopping centre giant, despite the dropping economic winds in Europe, has announced it will embark on a $4.51bn (3.0 billion pounds) expansion thrust in Britain.

Mining companies should stall new investment projects in the face of the continued softening of global commodity prices rather than risk stability and profitability, an executive from the Australian Foundation Investment Co. (AFIC) said.

A report in the Weekend Australian newspaper suggests the world's biggest mining company may pull back on its planned A$30bn mining project in South Australia.

Uranium miner Energy Resources of Australia (ERA), which posted net losses by more than 50 per cent in the first half to $59.86 million, remained confident consumer interest in uranium will be renewed, what with Japan already starting to re-embrace it and demand from China continues to grow.

Yes, the world prices of commodities may have already peaked, but this does not correlate to a corresponding mining boom deceleration for Australia.

Australian regulator Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) has given its full nod to the $5.9 billion takeover bid of Glencore International plc over dual-listed grain handler Viterra Inc.

Troubled Australian surfwear retailer Billabong International, unexcited over the second takeover bid by U.S.-based private equity firm TPG Inc. of $695 million, has nevertheless decided to still open its books to the latter.

For the first time again in 20 years, a woman athlete, in the person of triple silver medallist Lauren Jackson, has been declared to lead the Australian team and carry its flag in this year's opening ceremony of the Olympics Game in London.

Australia-listed Exalt Resources Ltd. has secured rights to acquire ownership interest in six Indonesian projects of Singapore-based Odni Holdings Pte. Ltd.

Shares of Newcrest Mining Ltd., one of Australia's largest gold producer and a global top 10 gold mining company, have jumped during early Tuesday trading despite reporting poor gold output in the last full financial year.

China vowed to continue implementing its regulation policies on the mining and exporting of its rare earths as it remained unperturbed by the panel that the World Trade Organisation (WTO) said it will create to look into the complaints lodged by the U.S., European Union and Japan.

The amount of rare earths legally mined and shipped from China had dropped by 42.7 per cent in the first six months of the year versus a year ago, spurred by the persistent and rampant smuggling in the country, aggravating concerns that Beijing's overall exports of the precious metal elements could further dive this year.

Australian iron ore miner Northern Iron has just received a revised and improved takeover bid from Indian conglomerate Aditya Birla Group, which has prompted investors of the miner to rejoice over the latest development.

The Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Monday has created a panel that will effectively kick off the investigation into the mounting rare earths debate lodged by the U.S., European Union and Japan against China.

Stirred up by the ongoing scuffle among the four economic leaders U.S., European Union, Japan and China plus the persisting reality that alternative suppliers are hard to come by, the two Koreas are mulling a joint development cooperation to mine rare earth metals in the North.

Shares in troubled surfwear retailer Billabong International jumped by more than 20 per cent on Tuesday after news that US private equity firm TPG had presented a second takeover offer bid of $695 million.

Oil and gas giant Chevron Corp. has hit another pay dirt when its exploration well made another natural gas discovery in the Gorgon area off the coast of Western Australia.

With the reality that it hosts seven of the world's 10 major liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects, it is no remote idea that Australia could very well become the world's LNG hub by 2020.

A New York City-based non-governmental organization found that most of the world's polluted places or those exposed to dangerous levels of toxic chemic are found in Asia, with the Soviet Union having the most and experiencing the worst ill effects.

It may just be a simple corporate realignment of priorities, but Australia's mining unions are worried that the programmed job cuts by global miner Rio Tinto PLC could create a ripple effect in the country's mining sector.