Government help call
ISAAC Regional Council Mayor Anne Baker has called on state and federal governments to bring "positive change" to save mining communities from the double impact of an industry downturn and the introduction of 100% fly-in, fly-out workforces.
The Daily Mercury reports that Baker said BMA's decision to cut 230 jobs from its Saraji mine was a "blow to confidence" for the region.
"Any reduction in employment creates a significant negative impact on our local government area and potentially the wider region," she said.
She said the council was "watching with interest" to see how many permanent versus non-permanent residents had been affected by the job cuts.
China gold gap
A 500-tonne gap in China’s gold consumption data is fuelling talk that the central bank took advantage of weak prices last year to bulk up its holdings of the precious metal, according to the Financial Times
The last time the Chinese central bank said it increased its gold holdings was nearly five years ago, in early 2009. Officials have since then repeatedly insisted that they do not view gold as a useful asset for diversifying the country’s $3.8 trillion mountain of foreign currency reserves.
However, the latest official figures show China imported and produced far more gold in 2013 than its citizens bought. This chasm suggests that the central bank was a buyer in the gold market last year in spite of its protestations to the contrary, say analysts.
Coal shortage leads green push
Faced with delays in fuel linkages for coal-fired plants, Hindustan Power Projects has taken to green power to bring the next wave of growth.
India’s Financial Express newspaper reports it plans to invest close to $US3 billion over the next three years to boost its solar portfolio from about 350 megawatts to about 1000MW by 2017.
The company is also set to expand its presence in overseas markets with solar power projects in Japan.
HPPPL has two coal-based power projects – a 2520MW project in Madhya Pradesh and a 1320MW project in Chhattisgarh.
Beyond those, the company will focus on renewables.
