After almost two years since the New South Wales Government called for expressions of interest, the Vales Point Power Station previously owned by the NSW Government has been sold for one million dollars to Sunset Power International Pty Ltd. Newcastle Trades Hall Council secretary Daniel Wallace said it is crucial that workers' jobs are protected.

Recently The United States Patent and Trademark Office granted Orbite a patent titled “Processes for Treating Fly Ash”. The patent covers selective extraction and recovery of valuable elements such as scandium, gallium, rare earths and rare metals, alumina, magnesium oxide and titanium dioxide from fly ash, a residue from coal combustion, using Orbite's chloride-based technology.

Alinta Energy today confirmed that its Flinders Operations will close on 31 March 2016, in line with previous guidance. Timing for this closure means that operational mining at Leigh Creek will cease on 17 November 2015 and the Augusta Power Stations plan to cease generation around 31 March 2016.

We recently caught up with Craig Mellick the Principal Materials Technologist from BG&E Materials Technology to have a chat about the recent projects being undertaken across the globe.

With the Olympics just around the corner the developers for the Rio De Janeiro, Brazil Olympics are facing the task of completing the 34 venues and stadiums spread across the city by 2016. In 2013 the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) agreed that the construction of the new venues needed to include by-products such as fly ash and achieve 100% local sustainability targets.

The Omega Bridge is over 340 metres long and is the lynchpin for the $329 million Princess Highway upgrade. The Bridge was constructed using the same method as the Sea Cliff Bridge construction in 2005. Fly ash was crucial to the completion of the project.