Fly-in, fly-out "working girls" travelling from as far away as New Zealand to the resource-rich regions of Queensland and Western Australia are making as much money in one or two days as mine labourers earn in a week.

US coal giant Peabody Energy wasted no time asserting control at Macarthur Coal yesterday installing its former Australian managing director Julian Thornton as chief executive. The rapid transition accompanied an unexpected move by steelmaker...

BHP Billiton Ltd says it has received approval from US regulatory authorities to proceed with its takeover of shale oil explorer and developer, Petrohawk Energy.

Mining and energy firms have swooped to buy more than 390,000ha across Queensland Australia despite almost unanimous opposition to the sell-off of prime farming land. In the Surat Basin west of Brisbane, small farming communities have been decimated as the race for mining riches forces families off properties after decades of working the land. Fears over the impact of the mining squeeze on communities prompted angry locals to rally at Oakey, while an inquiry has been announced by the New South Wales Parliament into the environmental impacts of the coal seam gas industry.

A landmark victory in the Federal Court looks set to give unions more power to bargain on behalf of workers at Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton iron ore operations in the Pilbara. The full bench of the court has ruled that a non-union collective agreement covering workers in Rio Tinto's operations was invalid. Yesterday's decision casts doubt on similar agreements at BHP and other operations in the mining region, involving thousands of workers.