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"Proceedings have been filed against: * Australia's two largest manufacturers of electrical cable, Olex Australia Pty Ltd (Olex) and Prysmian Power Cables & Systems Australia Pty Ltd (Prysmian), * the electrical wholesaling businesses L&H (which is operated by Lawrence & Hanson Group Pty Ltd) and Rexel (which is operated by Rexel Electrical Supplies Pty Ltd and Australian Regional Wholesalers Pty Ltd), * six senior executives from these manufacturing and wholesaling companies, and * an industry association, Electrical Wholesalers Association of Australia Limited (EWAA)."

TOKYO - Nippon Mining & Metals Cob said it has developed a new technology that enables efficient recovery of copper and gold from low-grade copper concentrates. Nippon Mining will invest some 2.8 billion yen to build a pilot plant in Australia, in cooperation with major local mine operator Newcrest Mining Ltd.

South Korean makers of wrought copper alloy are expecting that the free trade agreement (FTA) between South Korea and Australia, which will go into effect on December 12, will stimulate their exports

Demand impact in the geography

Australia`s competition regulator on Friday identified iron-ore as a potential major concern in evaluating mining giant BHP Billiton`s US$128 billion bid for rival Rio Tinto and said it would make a final ruling on the hostile takeover by October 1. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) devoted most of its nine-page "statement of issues" to the proposed deal`s likely impact on the iron ore trade and, in particular, on Australian steel-makers. Rio Tinto and BHPB are the world`s second and third largest iron-ore producers, respectively, behind Brazil`s Vale. But the ACCC saw no major competition issues surrounding trade in copper, gold, uranium, bauxite and alumina.

World firsts are always interesting. Here, a bus network in Adelaide, Australia will operate using a solar photovoltaic system. Of course, the region has enough sun to keep energy levels topped up. In regard to using solar for other city systems, it will be interesting to see how this model works .

Mainstream Renewable Power, a renewable energy company led by Airtricity founder Eddie O'Connor, has announced the successful closing of a €40 million [US $59.6 million] equity fundraising in which Barclays Capital have invested €20 million [US $29.8 million] for a 14.6% stake in the company. The board, management and staff of Mainstream, as well as close associates of the company, have invested an additional €20 million [US $29.8 million]. Together with the initial seed capital of €32 million [US $47.75 million], this brings the total equity raised to date to €72 million [US $107.43 million]. The company is also planning a major fundraiser later this year, with Barclays Capital committing to invest a further substantial amount at that stage. As part of the deal, Mark Brown, head of Barclays Capital Commodities Principal Investment team has been appointed to the board of Mainstream. The money will be used to fund the company's international expansion plans across Europe, North and South America and Australia and will be used to secure the supply of turbines to be delivered in 2009, 2010 and 2011. In June, Mainstream announced its plans to build an initial pipeline of 240 megawatts of projects in Chile with its partner Andes Energy.

MELBOURNE -(Dow Jones)- BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) has boosted the size of the copper and uranium resource at its giant Olympic Dam mine in South Australia state, which is slated for a multibillion dollar expansion.

The Ridgeway underground mine cave is located in the mineral-rich Cadia Valley province in central New South Wales. A gold and copper mine, it is 100% owned by Australia's Newcrest Mining, and is one of three operations owned by the company in the province. The others are Cadia East and Cadia Hill, the largest of the three. "The Ridgeway underground mine cave is located in the mineral-rich Cadia Valley province."Ridgeway is in the process of transitioning from the sub-level cave to a block cave beneath the existing mine. In 2007 the Newcrest board approved development of the Ridgeway Deeps block cave. It will be the first natural caving operation to be developed by Newcrest and will be the deepest block cave in Australia. The company says it is spending A$525m to develop it. The mineral resource at Ridgeway Deeps was re-estimated following a geological reinterpretation which yielded an increased resource of 20 million tons containing 0.5 million ounces of gold, and 0.05 million tons of copper. GEOLOGY AND RESERVES

Murchison has sold its 9.2% stake in Midwest Corp to Sinosteel for $107 million following Sinosteel's takeover of Midwest. Posted: Thursday , 11 Sep 2008 SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian iron ore prospector Murchison Metals Ltd has sold its 9.2 percent stake in fellow Australian firm Midwest Corp to China's Sinosteel for about A$135 million ($107 million). The move follows Sinosteel's $1.3 billion takeover of Midwest earlier this year, which defeated a plan by Murchison to merge with Midwest. The two Australian firms are neighbours in the as-yet undeveloped Yilgarn iron ore mining region of west Australia. Murchison said in a statement on Thursday the sale of the Midwest shares is in the best interests of the company, especially given significant changes in world financial markets over the past three months. "The cash raised through the sale gives Murchison greater flexibility in relation to both developing existing projects and in pursuing fresh opportunities," Murchison Executive Chairman Paul Kopejtka said in the statement.

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - Mining giant BHP Billiton announced plans Wednesday to slash 6,000 jobs, or about 6 percent of its global work force, as it rushes to cope with plummeting demand because of the global financial crisis.

Still, the top 10, which is ranked according to Google's search volume index, offers a glimpse of relative interest in the technology. The numbers represent the likelihood of users in each country searching for "hybrid car," on a scale of 0-100. Google divides the total number of searches for each country by the number of searches for this particular term, and then normalizes the data based on the country's traffic volume. 1. United States: 100 2. Malaysia: 66 3. Canada: 60 4. Singapore: 56 5. Australia: 45 6. New Zealand: 42 7. South Korea: 35 8. India: 30 9. Hong Kong: 23 10. United Kingdom: 22

SYDNEY -(Dow Jones)- BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP.AU) said Tuesday it expects stainless steel demand to be robust over the long-term, underpinned by China's ongoing urbanization and industrialization, the miner said in a presentation to analysts on a site tour at its nickel operations in Western Australia.

China Steel Australia plans to at least triple its nickel pig iron production capacity through a $92 million expansion of its Linyi plant in China's Shandong Province. The company, which services the domestic Chinese market, today announced that fixed price building contracts had been signed for the plant expansion, with production scheduled to commence in January, 2009.

Next month an Australian-led coalition is expected to unveil a project to build experimental water-­purification reactors in drought-plagued ­northeastern Australia.

MELBOURNE -(Dow Jones)- BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP.AU) said Tuesday it has boosted the total ore reserves at its Olympic Dam copper and uranium mine in South Australia state, although ore grades have fallen slightly.