First of its kind for 35 years

Australian Bauxite has been given the greenlight by Tasmanian Resources Minister Paul Harriss to develop its Bald Hill project in the state’s north east. The bauxite mine, when operational, will be the first of its kind to be approved in Australia for more than 35 years, according to the Herald Sun.

Third party access under scrutiny

A report has found that the National Access Regime, which allows companies to seek legal access to nationally significant infrastructure – like rail lines – needs to be confined to reduce costs. The Australian Financial Review reports that the findings of the Harper competition review panel has questioned the effectiveness of the system, which has been a source of great delays and costly disputes in states like Western Australia.

ALS to shed 1000 employees

Following yesterday’s downgrade in profit guidance, mining laboratory firm ALS announced it would reduce costs by shedding 1000 jobs across the business. ALS said it now expected to record an underlying net profit after tax for the first half of $A64 million, down from the previous prediction of $74 million, according to The Australian.