Despite the apocalyptic rhetoric from the mining industry and the opposition, Australia continues to be ranked as the world’s safest place for mining investment. Bernard Keane and Glenn Dyer report.
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MINING INDUSTRY
At the coalface: females increasingly hitting paydirt in the mines
The Australian Women in Resources Alliance aims to double the number of women working in the resources sector. But how will they do it? Freelance journalist Mandi Santic investigates.
READ MOREGlobal mining giants fail to hit paydirt, more write-downs
Mining companies around the world are announcing billions of dollars worth of write-downs. Here’s a list of the biggest cuts.
READ MOREIf we ride on the back of iron ore, the recovery signs are good
Iron ore prices have staged a remarkable comeback, boosted by a stronger Chinese economy and favourable weather conditions. It could deliver a bigger windfall to Australia than anyone thought.
READ MOREDecades behind? Mining chief might be right on productivity
Is the Australian mining sector really decades behind on productivity improvement? There’s something to incoming Anglo American chief Mark Cutifani’s alarming comments.
READ MOREApproval for a devil of an issue in the Tarkine
The campaign is well underway to protect the Tarkine’s natural and cultural heritage after approval was given this week for the Shree Minerals iron ore mine in western Tasmania. The ANU’s Andrew Macintosh writes on the politics and policy.
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Boom or bust? The forecast is fine for mining long-term
The death-knell of the mining boom has sounded all year. But the pipeline of investment won’t peak until 2014 and Asian demand forecasts are strong. Owen Jacques finds the middle ground between boom and bust.
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The Power Index: biz directors, Jac Nasser at #6
The Big Australia may be diminished, but its chairman is still a titan in the business world. Jac Nasser, who earns around $1 million a year to steer BHP Billiton’s boardroom, is described as a good foil to other directors and a CEO now under increasing pressure.
READ MOREMiners’ African fantasies drowning in violence
Fantasies of an African mining nirvana claimed by the likes of Gina Rinehart are at odds with a bloodier reality: strikes are crippling South Africa’s mining industry.
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Why life is more complicated than boom and bust
The “boom is over” crowd miss the point that the end of record minerals prices is, in the long-term, a good thing for industry.
READ MORECognitive dissonance as Newman flails the coal industry
Concerns about the quality of Australian management, once claimed to be partisan sniping, are now shared by a conservative premier. That didn’t fit the narrative at all.
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Rinehart our new YouTube star
Australia’s richest citizen has taken to YouTube to hit out at the federal government’s tax take and what she says is an increasingly difficult business environment. Despite her comments attracting international attention, the 10-minute spray only had 1124 views as Crikey hit deadline …
READ MOREBlind-sided BHP’s mega lucky delays
The rate of change in external circumstances blind-sided BHP Billiton and its peers. The silver lining is that the change came soon enough to prevent unaffordable mega-projects from being set in motion.
READ MOREGet a real job, Wayne — mining tax take won’t cut it
With the resources sector transitioning from boom times to just “good times”, Canberra’s tax take is on the slide. Without a bold fix it might be time for Wayne Swan to don the hard hat for real, says Rob Burgess.
READ MOREEssential: voters hostile to foreign workers, Abbott at new lows
Voters are strongly opposed to bringing in foreign workers, new polling from Essential Research finds, and believe mining companies’ only motivation is cheap labour.
READ MOREWhat the mining doom’n'gloom reports won’t mention
More claims that Australia is becoming a higher cost place to do business fail to acknowledge what’s happening in countries like Brazil.
READ MOREAn opportunity to change the country for the better
Crikey readers have their say.
READ MOREWhy getting Australians into mining jobs doesn’t add up
Bringing in foreign workers for mining industry jobs makes sense - because it doesn’t make sense for most of us to relocate to mining towns.
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The reality behind Jac Nasser’s capital strike threat
The reality behind Jac Nasser’s complaints is that the mining industry is responsible for much of what it claims is wrong with Australia, write Bernard Keane and Glenn Dyer.
READ MOREAs the miners look tough, the government looks weak
If the mining industry was a political party, it would make the current federal government look like a success story, writes Dr Richard Denniss, is executive director of The Australia Institute.
READ MOREHave your say on the Queensland mining industry …
A new survey invites Queenslanders to offer their views on more help for the mining industry.
READ MOREOfficial: Australia the best place for miners in the world (again)
Despite what Tony Abbott might like you to believe, a leading US mining consultancy has, for third year in a row, listed Australia as the best place to be a miner.
READ MOREKeane: when a lock-out means locked out from work and home
The Fair Work Act requires that employers kick fly-in fly-out workers out of their accommodation is there’s an industrial dispute.
READ MOREKeane’s guide to the year in political garbage
Will 2012 see an improvement in the quality of public debate? Don’t count on it.
READ MOREMRRT: a spectacular failure of leadership by all
The MRRT will become law, but it represents a dark chapter in the history of Australian economic reform.
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