Search Results for: Australia

BY SWINEETHA DIAS WICKRAMANAYAKA
THE PROSPECT of significant underwater monosite, ilmanite, rutile and zircon off the Sri Lankan coast has attracted the attention of 10 international companies, two from Australia, two from India and two from Sri Lanka. Their applications to mine the 11 heavy mineral seabed deposits, whose estimated worth exceeds US$330 million, are being considered by the island’s Marine Pollution Prevention Authority (MPPA).…

BY MATTHEW BRACE
NEW technology capable of predicting mine collapse or the release of deadly gases underground may have a major impact on mining insurance, and related industries such as quarrying and tunnelling.

Scientists from Australia’s premier scientific organisation CSIRO have developed a micro-seismic analysis system allowing them to ‘see’ weak points in rocks by monitoring seismic waves coming from them.…

BY MATTHEW BRACE, in Brisbane
CUTTING edge research from Australia has developed a computerised welding system that analyses the quality of welds in mechanical engineering and identifies flaws instantly. WeldPrint, created by the University of Sydney and company WTi, offers the potential of increased safety for car users.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has signed an international charter on the capture and storage deep underground of carbon dioxide, also involving Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Italy, India, Japan, Mexico, Norway, China, Russia, Britain and the US. This Sequestration Leadership Forum is developing schemes to capturing CO2 at source and storing it for thousands of years deep underground, probably in depleted oil and gas wells, with the aim of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A KYOTO Protocol secretariat report has warned that the industrialised world’s greenhouse gas emissions will probably grow this decade, having stabilised during the 1990’s. Based on national government projections, the paper claims combined global warming emissions of Europe, Japan, the US and other highly industrialised countries could grow by eight per cent from 2000 to 2010, (17 per cent over 1990 levels), despite measures already in place to limit them.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A KYOTO Protocol secretariat report has warned that the industrialised world’s greenhouse gas emissions will probably grow this decade, having stabilised during the 1990’s. Based on national government projections, the paper claims combined global warming emissions of Europe, Japan, the US and other highly industrialised countries could grow by eight per cent from 2000 to 2010, (17 per cent over 1990 levels), despite measures already in place to limit them.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE STORAGE of CO2 deep underground in uneconomic coal seams is one key option being considered by the (carbon) Sequestration Leadership Forum, which has just been joined by the European Commission. Other members are Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Italy, India, Japan, Mexico, Norway, China, Russia, Britain and the US.…

BY MARK ROWE
THE FIRST meeting of the world’s five largest sugar exporters has agreed to co-ordinate efforts to boost prices in the commodity’s international market from current record lows. Meeting in Bangkok, representatives of Thailand, Australia, Brazil, South Africa and Guatemala agreed to speed up co-operation and seek to lift world prices without raising domestic retail prices.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
AGRICULTURAL economists may disagree, but predicting trends in world food markets is not necessarily rocket science. A dose of healthy common sense can be as good a guide for the future demand for commodities as any amount of slide rules and complex economic equations.…

BY MATTHEW BRACE
THE CLUTCH of much-maligned offshore financial centres (OFCs) on remote Pacific islands have been swamped by so many accusations of impropriety, they are now struggling to stay afloat.

Labelled as palm-fringed, sun-drenched laundries for the world’s dirty money, these tiny island states and dependent territories are trying to fend off attempts by international organisations to excommunicate them from the global financial church.…