Suncor restarts operations after wildfire evacuation

Analysts say more coal jobs will be axed in the Australian tropical state of Queensland as the beleaguered resources sector continues to weather a barrage of adverse factors.

Striking gold miners have rejected the industry's latest wage offer, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said on Thursday, confirming mining companies’ fears of labour unrest lasting longer than expected.

The Western Australian government has issued a key approval for Toro Energy's Wiluna uranium project, bringing the proposed mine a large margin nearer to completion.

The full time workers follow $1.4 billion in Chinese funding for two coal projects in the northeast of the province because Canadians "just don't have the experience" to operate underground equipment safely.

In 2010, a single oil-sands operation run by Suncor Energy released into the atmosphere 28,940 tonnes of volatile organic compounds, 22,210 tonnes of sulphur dioxide and 14,011 tonnes of particulate matter.

Xstrata Coal (LON:XTA) began to reduce its workforce across its Australian coal operations by firing its first 40 permanent employees out of the 600 announced cuts.

Renowned investment guru Stephen Leeb says China is pushing for a stronger yuan in order to cut the cost of its commodities purchases.

The Queensland government's decision to auction licenses for oil, coal and gas exploration has triggered widespread complaint within the mining sector of the Australian tropical state.

Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) has announced further retrenchments and cost cutting measures due to concerns that the slowdown in China's economic growth will be more pronounced than expected.