BHP suspends WA nickel production ‘temporarily’

BHP has taken what it calls ‘the difficult but necessary decision’ to temporarily suspend its Western Australian Nickel operation, Nickel West. The company operates open-cut and underground mines, concentrators, a smelter and refinery all located in Western Australia. The company blamed ‘significant and sustained challenges to the Australian nickel industry’, which includes a period of…

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Joint Statement by the Drone Coalition’s Ministers of Defence

Defence Minister Richard Marles has announced that Australia will join the Drone Coalition which includes Estonia, Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands, Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, New Zealand, Poland and Latvia.. The coalition aims is to provide one million drones to Ukraine – here is the joint statement of coalition defence ministers in full. “We, nations of…

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Australia reveals biggest-ever Ukraine aid package

The federal government has announced Australia’s largest single military assistance package to Ukraine worth nearly $250 million. At the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Leaders’ Summit in Washington DC, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, Richard Marles, met with Ukraine’s President Volodomyr Zelenskyy alongside Indo-Pacific Four (IP4) partners. Marles ‘reaffirmed Australia’s commitment to standing…

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Lithium Australia battery recycling achieves maiden profit

Lithium Australia’s lithium ion battery (LIB) recycling subsidiary Envirostream Australia has achieved a significant milestone, delivering its first positive operating profit during Q4 FY24. The achievement was driven by the company’s transition towards an upstream service model, which has increased revenues with a higher proportion of revenues now received upfront through recycling fees. Lithium Australia…

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Quickstep beefs up aircraft MRO capabilities

Defence contractor Northrop Grumman has foreshadowed further expansion of composites manufacturer Quickstep’s Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul (MRO) capabilities at Melbourne’s Tullamarine airport. Quickstep hosted the aerospace manufacturer to inspect progress in developing its MRO operation which it purchased from Boeing more than two years ago. The company said it was taking delivery of an increasing…

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New training centre will address predicted skills shortfall in “second quantum revolution”

The University of Adelaide has shared some details about a recently-funded ARC Training Centre in Current and Emergent Quantum Technologies (CE-QuTech), which it says will play “a critical role in advancing Australia’s position as a global leader in quantum technologies.” The new centre is led by University of Adelaide, and directed by the university’s Professor…

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