According to a report released by the Australian Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics (BREE) on May 24, the country's mining investments increased by 34 percent year on year and were up 12 percent to $US260.8 billion in the six months ended April 31 this year, compared to May-October 2011.
New capital expenditure in the mining industry totalled $52 billion in the fiscal year 2010-11, rising 29 percent compared to the fiscal year 2009-10. The report shows that Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) survey data indicate capital expenditure in the mining sector in 2011-12 may be greater than $80 billion, based on industry intentions from the December quarter 2011.
According to the report, three nickel projects located in Western Australia were completed in the six months to April 2012 at a combined capital cost of around $440 million. There were two iron ore projects in the period in question; Extension Hill DSO and Yilgarn, both located in the Mid West region of Western Australia. The Extension Hill project, which is owned by Mt Gibson Iron, has an annual production capacity of 3 million mt and a capital cost of $90 million. The Yilgarn project has an annual production capacity of 4 million mt and a construction cost of around $120 million.
The largest mineral project added to the list of advanced projects in the six months to April 2012 was Rio Tinto's Nammuldi mine expansion. The mine will have an iron ore production capacity of 26 million mt per year at a capital cost of US$2.2 billion. In addition to Nammuldi, there are 14 major iron ore projects in the country. In terms of capital expenditure, the largest include: CITIC Pacific's US$6.1 billion Sino Iron Project (28 million mt); BHP Billiton's US$3.4 billion Jimblebar mine (35 million mt); Gindalbie's $2.6 billion Karara Magnetite project (10 million mt); and Rio Tinto's US$2.1 billion Hope Downs 4 project (15 million mt).
Meanwhile, at the end of April 2012, there were 21 coal mine projects valued at around $17.3 billion in Australia. The largest coal mine project, by capital expenditure, is the Caval Ridge/Peak Downs Project which is being developed by BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) and is located in the Bowen Basin in Queensland. The project consists of constructing the Caval Ridge mine (capacity of 5.5 million mt of coking coal) and expanding the neighbouring Peak Downs mine (additional capacity of 2.5 million mt of coking coal). The US$4.4 billion project is scheduled for completion in 2014.