Energy & Natural Resources

Australia's richest person Gina Rinehart could be on the hook for millions of dollars in royalty payments, in a long-running battle over lucrative iron ore mining tenements in Western Australia's Pilbara region.

Global infrastructure manager Palisade Investments has scooped up a battery energy storage system under construction 50 kilometres from Adelaide, which has already secured a long-term tolling agreement with Origin Energy.

Mining magnate Gina Rinehart is on the hook for royalties payable to the heirs of iron ore pioneers Don Rhodes and Peter Wright, a judge has held in a long-running battle over lucrative tenements in the Pilbara region.

The federal government has proposed a significant expansion of the foreign resident capital gains tax regime that will prohibit foreign investors from cashing out tax free on large-scale infrastructure projects on Australian land, with one major firm calling the proposed changes "unwelcome" and "alarming".

A tribunal has declined to approve a planned Veolia waste consolidation facility 220 metres from a residential area, after receiving hundreds of objections that expressed concerns about odour.

A unit of Wheaton Previous Metals has entered into an innovative $424 million (US$300 million) agreement that will help fund the construction of KGL Resources' Jervois copper project in the Northern Territory. 

A community group is seeking to quash a decision approving Southern Cross Gold’s Sunday Creek exploration tunnel project 60 km north of Melbourne, arguing that its concerns about the environment and noise were ignored. 

Trial in a case by the Wilderness Society challenging Santos' plans for its Reindeer gas field kicked off Tuesday, with counsel for the activist group saying the energy giant needed to show it coud cover decommissioning costs.

Parliament has rushed through legislation doubling penalties against petrol companies for pricing misconduct to $100 million, as prices skyrocket due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. 

A judge has fined Queensland mining equipment company Qteq $5 million and chair Simon Ashton a record $1 million for attempting to engage in cartel conduct.