Gina Rinehart's Alpha coal mine faces challenge

The future of Gina Rinehart's Alpha coal mine in central Queensland is facing its latest legal hurdle in the state's Court of Appeal, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Environmental organisation Coast and Country has taken its bid to block the proposed mine to Queensland's highest court on Tuesday, after the Supreme Court dismissed two of its applications in September 2015.

GVK Hancock plans to build an open cut mine in the state's Galilee Basin.

If approved, it would produce 32 million tonnes of coal each year.

Coal will continue to provide base-load power for years to come, says MCA

The peak mining body has hit back at claims the gas sector should squeeze coal out of the energy mix, saying both fossil fuels will be needed to provide base-load power generation for decades to come, according to the Australian Financial Review.

The Minerals Council of Australia chief executive Brendan Pearson warned the energy sector was not a “zero sum game”

He said the predicted demise of coal had been heard many times before but coal's future was bright, pointing to the 1900 coal-fired power stations under construction or planned in south-east Asia.

Forensic investigation into Arrium collapse kicks off

A team of specialists from KordaMentha are in the early stages of a forensic investigation into what went wrong at collapsed steelmaker Arrium, with corporate regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, in close contact with the administrators, according to the Australian Financial Review.

The main priorities of the administrators were initially on stabilising the Arrium operations over the first eight weeks of their appointment, and preparing the company for a sale or recapitalisation process which is earmarked to officially start in late July.

Early work has also begun on the investigation and a reconstruction of events ahead of an eventual apportioning of blame.