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Australian Mining Giant BHP Billiton plans a $48bn expansion of its iron ore operations
BHP Billiton flagged the expansion of its Pilbara region iron ore mines, ports and railways that could triple the Australian company's annual production to 480 million tonnes a year over the next decade if Chinese growth continued to support demand.
The staged project, known as the Port Hedland outer harbour development, would rival the West Australian LNG operations Gorgon and the North West Shelf as the nation's biggest resources projects. It would also boost the nation's annual commodities revenue by $US22bn a year based on analysts' long-term estimates for iron ore prices.
BHP currently ships about 150 million tonnes of iron ore a year from Port Hedland and recently revealed $US8.4bn plans to grow that to 240 million tonnes soon after 2014.
In addition to BHP's expansion, Rio Tinto has plans to grow its Australian iron ore capacity from about 225 million tonnes to 433 million tonnes, with Andrew Forrest's Fortescue Metals Group aiming to grow from about 50 million tonnes a year to 350 million tonnes.
BHP plans to give board approval for the first of four stages for the outer harbour project at the end of 2012, with first production expected in 2016. Each stage would take between two and three years to build.
In Western Australia the current skill shortages are already causing problems, with Caterpillar and Komatsu trained Heavy Equipment Fitters in massive demand for these open cut mine projects.
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Investment in Australian mining could surpass A$80-billion by 2015, despite concerns over the global economy and the introduction of new taxes on carbon, iron-ore and coal mining profits, an independent economic forecaster and analyst said on Monday.
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BHP Billiton's plan to create the world's largest open-cut mine in South Australia has won federal and state government development approval, bringing potentially enormous economic benefits.
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Australian Mining Giant BHP Billiton plans a $48bn expansion of its iron ore operations
BHP Billiton flagged the expansion of its Pilbara region iron ore mines, ports and railways that could triple the Australian company's annual production to 480 million tonnes a year over the next decade
Is the worlds largest open cut mine going to be in Australia?
An industry source said if the Olympic Dam expansion was approved, BHP would "make the biggest order of trucks and other mining equipment in history".
