Giant US company General Electric has announced plans for an $80 million technology and education centre at Perth's Jandakot airport.

Its global chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt made the announcement in Perth on Wednesday with federal Tertiary Education, Skills, Jobs Minister Chris Evans.

Mr Immelt said the new facility would be a multi-purpose GE training, service and technology centre able to be expanded further in future.

It would help provide skills and training to support growth in Australia's oil and gas, energy, mining, transportation and water industries.

SKILLED workers will be able to fast-track to full trade qualifications in as little as 18 months.

Skills Minister Chris Evans said the Federal Government would also provide $200 million for training projects for skills in high demand.

The Government has accepted all 31 recommendations of the Resourcing the Future report, which outlines a blueprint for lifting the number of skilled workers available to the resources sector.

"Under the adult apprenticeship project, experienced workers will have their existing skills recognised and be given the opportunity to complete the competencies required in just 18 months," Senator Evans said in a statement.

Global miner Rio Tinto warned that metals demand could fall in the near term and prices could be volatile in the medium term due to economic imbalances, but the long term growth outlook remained strong.

Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd Japan's third-biggest steelmaker, said it had no plan to declare force majeure on input deliveries. The company has suspended operations of the two giant blast furnaces at its mainstay Kashima plant in Ibaraki prefecture after the quake and tsunami.

With Japan the third biggest buyer of global jewellery, Tuesday was a tough day for London-listed Gem Diamonds to announce results.

The world’s third-largest gold miner said heavy rains in Australia have affected output at its Sunrise Dam mine.

First Quantum Minerals posted a US$455 million profit in the third quarter, the Vancouver-based company reported on Tuesday. That compares with $227 million in earnings in the three months ended December 31, 2009. Sales of copper in Q3 were down from the same period last year, from 98,171 tonnes in Q3 2009 to 76,290 in the third quarter of 2010. However, the company ended the year with $1.385 billion in its treasury compared to $959 million in the previous year's Q3.

Capstone Mining made a dramatic move into the black last year, earning a US$72.6 million profit compared to a loss of $18.3 million in 2009. Revenues grew from $250 million in 2009 to $310 million last year. The Vancouver-based company had US$192.4 million in the bank at the end of the year, up from $118.4 million the year previously.

US demand for pipe is forecast to advance 6.6 percent per year to $38.6 billion in 2015, according to MarketResearch.com. Gains will represent a substantial turnaround from the declines of the 2005-2010 period, in which pipe demand was hampered by an economic recession and a sharp drop in building construction spending.