Minerals and energy - Major development projects - November 2009 listing

• In 2008-09, expenditure on exploration in Australia’s minerals and energy sector was
  $6.0 billion.
• In the six months to October 2009, 15 major minerals and energy projects with a capital expenditure of $3.9 billion were completed. A further 74 projects were at an advanced stage with estimated expenditure of $112.5 billion.

Exploration expenditure

Investment in mineral exploration affects the ability of Australia’s mineral and energy sector to grow and expand its contribution to national economic performance over the medium to longer term. It represents an investment in knowledge about the potential size, location and quality of mineral deposits, and the decision to make this investment depends on the probability of discovering an economic deposit, or extending the resource base of a known deposit.

A range of factors influence the decision to invest in mineral exploration, some of these are common to investment decisions across the economy, while others, are more specific to the minerals sector. These factors include: current and expected mineral prices; mining and processing technologies; input costs; and access to land. Government policies also have a role in providing overall economic, social and environmental foundations that determine the security and potential cost of the investment.

In recent years, brownfield exploration expenditure (expenditure around existing or known deposits) has accounted for an increasing proportion of total exploration expenditure. There are two factors which have contributed to this trend. First, higher world prices have encouraged companies to reassess reserves previously considered uneconomic. Second, brownfield mining is attractive for companies because often infrastructure already exists which means extraction can start sooner and capital costs are lower.

In 2008-09, mineral exploration expenditure in Australia was $6 billion, an increase of 10 per cent on expenditure in 2007-08. In real terms (2008-09 dollars), exploration expenditure in 2008-09 was the highest on record and more than double the average expenditure of the past 30 years. Expenditure on mineral exploration in Australia since 1980-81 (in real terms) is provided in figure a.

Despite reaching a record in 2008-09, exploration expenditure grew at its slowest rate since 2003-04. Slowing growth reflected a sharp decline in prices of most commodities as a result of the global economic downturn. Expected future prices are likely to continue to be an important driver of exploration in the years ahead. Although uncertainty surrounds future economic growth, and therefore demand for commodities, exploration expenditure is likely to remain high reflecting expectations of a positive outlook for commodity prices over the medium to longer term.

In 2008-09, exploration expenditure for most major energy commodities increased. Petroleum exploration expenditure rose by 26 per cent to $3.8 billion, the highest on record and partially reflecting high oil prices in the first quarter of the financial year. Coal exploration also rose, by 27 per cent to nearly $300 million. Uranium exploration expenditure declined by 20 per cent, following a doubling of expenditure in the previous financial year. This expenditure reduction is partly attributable to declining world uranium prices over this period.

With the exception of iron ore, all other major mineral commodities experienced declining exploration expenditure in 2008-09. Exploration expenditure for iron ore was $589 million, an increase of 30 per cent. However, this was lower than the 52 per cent growth that occurred during 2007-08. Exploration expenditure on base metals (copper, silver, lead, zinc, nickel and cobalt) declined by 34 per cent in 2008-09 to around $519 million, while expenditure on gold exploration declined by 26 per cent to $438 million. Declining exploration expenditure reflected a combination of lower world prices and reduced access to capital.

Over the medium term, a common set of factors is expected to influence exploration expenditure in each sector of Australia’s minerals and energy industry. These include: the price outlook for each commodity; expected future costs of exploration and development (cost of labour, fuel and other inputs); and Australia’s relative attractiveness as a destination for mineral exploration and extraction.

Capital expenditure

New capital expenditure in mining and metal products industries provides a guide, in aggregate terms, of the pace and scale of development in the minerals and energy sector (figure b).

Capital expenditure in mining refers to spending on equipment, plant and assets directly related to mining or concentrating of ores or other raw materials. Expenditure on basic metals products refers to spending on equipment, plant and assets for basic processing of mine output. As Australia has a strong comparative advantage in mining, relative to basic metal processing, a larger proportion of capital expenditure is directed to mining rather than basic metal processing.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), new capital expenditure in the mining sector was $35.7 billion in 2008-09. This represents an increase of 30 per cent on 2007-08, and is around three and a half times the average annual real expenditure since 1980-81. The scale and pace of expenditure estimated by the ABS is consistent with recent trends shown in ABARE’s full list of minerals and energy development projects.

Capital expenditure in the metals products sector, which includes the minerals processing activities covered in ABARE’s project list, was $4.5 billion in 2008-09, 18 per cent higher than expenditure in 2007-08. In 2008-09 dollars, this is the fourth highest annual capital expenditure recorded over the past 30 years. Nevertheless, ABS survey data suggest that capital expenditure in the metal products industry may fall in 2009-10 to around $3.6 billion, partially reflecting the completion of an upgrade at Bluescope Steel’s Port Kembla steel operation.

Recently commissioned projects

In the six months ended October 2009, 15 major minerals and energy projects, with a capital expenditure totalling $3.9 billion, were completed (table 1). This represents the lowest number completed since the six months ending October 2005 (table 2). The average value of projects completed in the six months ended October 2009 was $259 million, an increase from the historical nominal average of the past 12 years of around $240 million but significantly lower than the average over the past two years (figure c).

Energy projects

In the six months ended October 2009, eight energy projects (including energy infrastructure projects) were completed at a total capital cost of $2.5 billion. Seven of these projects were located in Queensland, while the Blacktip gas field is located off the coast of Western Australia. Of the eight energy projects six were coal infrastructure projects, with a combined capital cost of $1.5 billion.

The largest energy project completed, in terms of capital expenditure, was the 17 million tonne expansion to the Dalrymple Bay Coal terminal. The $679 million project will increase the terminal coal loading capacity from 68 million tonnes to 85 million tonnes. Other infrastructure projects to be completed include four Queensland Rail projects with a combined capital expenditure of $691 million. The largest of these projects is the $500 million Jilalan Rail Yard Upgrade. The upgrade will increase the capacity of the Goonyella Coal System to complement expansions at the Dalrymple Bay and Hay Point coal terminals.

Two gas projects were commissioned in the six months to October 2009. These were the Darling Downs coal seam gas development and the Blacktip natural gas field, both with a capital expenditure of around $500 million. The Darling Downs coal seam gas development, an Origin/ConocoPhillips Joint Venture, has a capacity of 44 petajoules a year and will supply gas to the domestic Queensland market. The Blacktip gas field has an initial production capacity of 650 million cubic meters and will supply gas to the Power and Water Corporation of the Northern Territory over the next 25 years.

1 Major mineral resource developments - projects completed, May 2009 to October 2009
commodity	project	location	company	capital expenditure
				$m
Mining - energy projects
Black coal	Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal 7X expansion project Phase 2/3	Qld	Babcock & Brown Infrastructure	679
Black coal	Jilalan Rail Yard Upgrade	Qld	Queensland Rail	500
Black coal	Abbot Point Coal Terminal X25 expansion	Qld	North Queensland Bulk Ports	95
Black coal	Stanwell -Wycarbah upgrade	Qld	Queensland Rail	72
Black coal	Vermont Rail Spur and Balloon Loop	Qld	Queensland Rail	70
Black coal	Grantleigh to Tunnel	Qld	Queensland Rail	49
Coal seam gas	Darling Downs development	Qld	APLNG (Origin/ConocoPhillips)	500
Petroleum	Blacktip gas discovery	WA	ENI Australia	500
Mineral mining projects
Iron ore	Hope Downs Stage 2	WA	Hancock Prospecting/ Rio Tinto	422
Iron ore	East Intercourse Island	WA	Rio Tinto	58
Iron ore	Pardoo direct shipping ore project	WA	Atlas Iron	24
Lead–zinc–silver	Mount Isa zinc-lead concentrator expansion	Qld	Xstrata	160
Mineral sands	Murray Basin Stage 2 (Kulwin, Dispersion, Woornack)	Vic	Iluka Resources	240
Mineral processing projects
Crude iron and steel	Port Kembla blast furnace No.5 reline	NSW	Bluescope Steel	372
Crude iron and steel	Sinter plant and raw material yards upgrade	NSW	Bluescope Steel	140

Metal mining projects

In the six months to October 2009, five mineral mining projects were completed at a capital cost of $904 million. The largest, in terms of capital expenditure, was Hancock Prospecting/Rio Tinto’s Hope Downs expansion in Western Australia. Completed at a capital cost of US$350 million, the expansion has added 8 million tonnes of capacity to the Pilbara operation. Also in Western Australia, Atlas Iron’s Pardoo direct shipping ore project with a total capacity of 1 million tonnes was completed at a capital cost of $24 million.

Also completed in the six months to October 2009 was Iluka Resources $240 million Murray Basin expansion, which will increase capacity by 220 000 tonnes of rutile and 180 000 tonnes of zircon.

The other major mineral mining project completed in the past six months was Xstrata’s Mount Isa zinc-lead concentrator expansion. The expansion will increase the potential output of the concentrator by 75 000 tonnes of zinc/lead concentrate and cost $160 million to complete.

2 Completed projects, June 1998 to October 2009
	number of projects	total capital cost of projects	average capital cost of projects
		$m	$m
Six months ending
June-98	3	415	138
December-98	18	3 500	194
June-99	19	6 500	342
December-99	16	4 300	269
June-00	9	1 800	200
December-00	9	1 700	189
June-01	5	282	56
December-01	5	262	52
June-02	10	1 082	108
December-02	10	2 110	211
Four months ending
April-03	4	400	100
Six months ending
October-03	6	937	156
April-04	13	4 956	381
October-04	9	3 328	370
April-05	23	5 812	253
October-05	12	2 012	168
April-06	27	8 854	328
October-06	24	5 824	243
April-07	23	3 314	144
October-07	29	7 795	269
April-08	22	11 264	512
October-08	22	10 805	491
April-09	18	5 246	291
October-09	15	3 880	259
Total	351	96 378	275

Mineral processing projects

Two mineral processing projects located at Bluescope Steel’s Port Kembla steel operation in New South Wales were completed in the six months to October 2009. Collectively, these projects had a capital expenditure of $512 million and included a reline to the number five blast furnace ($372 million) and an upgrade to the sinter plant and rail yards ($140 million). While the reline did not add additional capacity to the operation, 1.1 million tonnes of capacity has been added to the sinter plant as a result of this upgrade.

Advanced projects

At the end of October 2009, there were 74 projects at an advanced stage of development on ABARE’s project list (table 3). Projects in this category are either committed or under construction. Sixteen of the 74 projects are either newly committed or entered the list at an advanced stage during the previous six months.

The total capital expenditure of the 74 advanced projects at the end of October 2009 is $112.5 billion, an increase of 40 per cent from April 2009 and 67 per cent year on year. This significant increase primarily reflects the addition of the Gorgon LNG project, with an estimated capital expenditure of $43 billion, to the advanced projects list. Partially offsetting this large increase in capital expenditure was the appreciation of the Australian dollar against the US dollar between April and October 2009. The Australian dollar value of US dollar denominated projects is estimated to have decreased by around $16 billion during this period.

3 Advanced projects, October 2009 number and estimated capital cost by state
	energy projects		mining projects		minerals processing		total
	no.	cost ($m)	no.	cost ($m)	no.	cost ($m)	no.	cost ($m)
New South Wales	10	4 325	3	975	0	0	13	5 300
Victoria	5	3 456	0	0	0	0	5	3 456
Queensland	13	5 208	3	1 180	3	2 912	19	9 300
Western Australia	8	67 194	21	23 029	2	2 751	31	92 974
South Australia	1	118	3	429	0	0	4	547
Tasmania	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Northern Territory	1	843	1	41	0	0	2	884
Australia	38	81 144	31	25 654	5	5 663	74	112 461

Energy projects

As at October 2009, energy project developments accounted for 38 of the 74 advanced projects on ABARE’s list and around 72 per cent (or $81.1 billion) of committed capital expenditure. Capital expenditure on advanced energy projects increased by 87 per cent in the six months since April 2009, largely reflecting the commencement of construction on the Gorgon LNG project. Petroleum projects now account for around 88 per cent ($71.7 billion) of the total estimated capital cost of all advanced energy projects.

The largest petroleum project, by capital expenditure, is the Gorgon LNG project which is owned by a joint venture consisting of Chevron, Shell and ExxonMobil. The 15 million tonne LNG development received a final investment decision in September 2009 and is scheduled for completion by 2015. With an estimated capital expenditure of $43 billion, it is the largest minerals and energy project to be undertaken in Australia.

Another significant LNG project on the list is Woodside’s Pluto LNG project, which has an announced capital cost of $12 billion. This project will have an annual production capacity of 4.3 million tonnes of LNG and is scheduled for completion in late 2010.

Ten other petroleum developments account for a further $15.7 billion in capital expenditure. In December 2008, the North West Shelf Joint Venture (Woodside, BHP Billiton, Shell, Chevron, BP and Japan Australia LNG) approved the US$1.5 billion NWS CWLH project. The project will allow for continued production from the Cossack, Wanea, Lamarina and Hermes fields beyond 2013. A significant proportion of the investment will be spent on the purchase of a new floating production, storage and offtake vessel.

The North West Shelf Joint Venture is also undertaking the US$5.1 billion North Rankin B project in Western Australia, which is due for completion in 2012. Other significant petroleum projects include: the US$1.7 billion joint venture Pyrenees oil field, in Western Australia which is scheduled for completion in early 2010; the US$1.3 billion Turrum natural gas and condensate field in Bass Strait due for completion in 2011; and the US$1.1 billion Kipper gas and condensate field off the coast of Gippsland, also scheduled for completion in 2011.

At the end of October 2009, there were five natural gas pipelines at an advanced stage of development. In May 2009, Australian Pipeline Trust made the decision to proceed with the expansion of the Moomba to Sydney pipeline. The $90 million project is scheduled to be completed in 2010. Other projects on the list include the $700 million, 40 petajoule expansion, of the Dampier to Bunbury Pipeline which is expected to be completed in 2010. SP AusNet is also undertaking expansions to two of its pipelines: the Eastern Gas Pipeline (Longford, Victoria to Wollongong) and the Queensland Gas Pipeline (Wallumbilla to Gladstone). The expansion of the Eastern Gas Pipeline will cost $41 million and will increase capacity by 20 petajoules a year. The expansion of the Queensland Gas Pipeline will increase capacity by 25 petajoules a year at a capital cost of $112 million.

Coal mine and coal infrastructure projects account for 11 per cent (or $9.0 billion) of the estimated $81.1 billion capital cost of all advanced energy projects. The largest coal mine development is Rio Tinto’s US$1.3 billion Clermont opencut mine in Queensland. The Clermont mine, due for completion in 2010, will produce 12 million tonnes of thermal coal a year and is expected to replace production from the existing Blair Athol mine. Another Rio Tinto project, the US$991 million Kestrel project near Emerald in Queensland, will have an increased annual production capacity of 1.7 million tonnes of coking coal.

In New South Wales, Xstrata Coal’s $1 billion Mangoola (Anvill Hill) opencut mine development near Muswellbrook is expected to have a capacity of 8 million tonnes of thermal coal when completed in 2012. Another large coal mine under construction in New South Wales is Stage 1 of the Moolarben project. The $405 million project will enable 8 million tonnes of production from an opencut mine (2010) and 4 million tonnes of production from an underground mine (2012).

Apart from those already listed, eight other advanced coal mine developments in Queensland and New South Wales are expected to raise coal production capacity by 20 million tonnes a year over the next three to four years. The combined capital cost of these eight projects is $2 billion.

The large number of coal projects recently commissioned and scheduled for completion in the short to medium term has provided the impetus for expanding coal infrastructure (rail and port) capacity. At the end of October 2009, there were four coal terminal expansions and three rail expansions either committed or under construction.

In terms of capital expenditure, the largest of these projects is the first stage of the Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group’s export terminal at the Port of Newcastle. When completed in early 2010, the US$1.1 billion terminal will have a coal loading capacity of 30 million tonnes. Further upgrades to the terminal could increase annual coal handling capacity to 66 million tonnes a year. Also at the Port of Newcastle, Port Waratah Coal Services is expanding and refurbishing the Kooragang Island Coal Terminal. The $456 million project will result in an increased annual coal loading capacity of 11 million tonnes. In Queensland, the Abbott Point Coal Terminal X50 expansion at Bowen is due for completion in 2011. At a cost of $818 million, the expansion will increase annual coal loading capacity from 25 million tonnes to 50 million tonnes a year.

Major rail projects include the duplication of the track between Coppabella and Ingsdon and the Minimbah Bank Third Rail Line (stage 1). In total, coal infrastructure projects have an estimated capital cost of $2.9 billion or 32 per cent of total committed capital expenditure in the coal industry.

Mineral mining projects

At the end of October 2009, there were 31 advanced mineral mining projects collectively valued at around $25.7 billion. Eight iron ore projects account for two-thirds (or $16.8 billion) of the total expected capital cost of advanced mineral mining projects.

In the six months to October 2009, ten mineral mining projects were added to the advanced project list, with a combined capital value of $610 million. Accounting for around 40 per cent ($248 million) of new capital expenditure are five gold projects located in Western Australia and South Australia. Other notable minerals projects moved to the advanced stage of development include BHP Billiton’s Talc Redesign Project (US$152 million) and Galaxy Resources Mt Cattlin Lithium project ($68 million).

Major iron ore projects on the advanced list include CITIC Pacific Mining’s US$3.5 billion Sino Iron project in Cape Preston, Western Australia, which will have a production capacity of 28 million tonnes of iron ore pellets and concentrates, and BHP Billiton’s US$5.7 billion Western Australian Iron Ore Rapid Growth Project 5 (annual production capacity of 45 million tonnes). Rio Tinto’s US$1.5 billion, Hammersley Iron Brockman 4 project (22 million tonnes) in Western Australia is scheduled for completion in 2010. The Rio Tinto/Robe River joint venture Mesa A project in Western Australia is expected to produce 25 million tonnes of iron ore from 2010, with the project costing around US$900 million.

Two iron ore infrastructure projects are under construction in Western Australia. These include the Utah Point Berth Project at Port Headland and BHP Billiton’s Western Australian Iron Ore Infrastructure Project. The Utah Point Berth expansion will allow for an additional 18 million tonnes a year to be loaded at the port and will be utilised by iron ore producers who rely on third party infrastructure access. The project is scheduled to be completed in 2010 at a capital cost of $225 million. As part of its Rapid Growth 5 project, BHP is expanding its rail and port handling capacity to 300 million tonnes a year. The capital expenditure is included in the total project cost of US$5.7 billion and will be completed in 2011.

The largest advanced gold project is Newmont’s US$3 billion redevelopment of the Boddington gold mine near Pinjarra in Western Australia. The redevelopment is scheduled for completion in late 2009 and is expected to provide new capacity of 900 000 to 1 million ounces of gold. Other gold projects include three smaller developments: Newcrest’s $545 million Ridgeway Deeps mine expansion near Orange, New South Wales; Kagara’s $150 million mine in Queensland; and Citigold’s $95 million Charters Towers mine in Queensland.

Other significant projects currently under construction include Rio Tinto’s Argyle underground development (diamonds) and Iluka Resources Eucla Basin (mineral sands). Rio Tinto’s Argyle underground development has a capital expenditure of US$1.5 billion and once completed will enable the continuation of mining at Australia’s largest diamond mine. Development at the mine has slowed as a result of market conditions. In South Australia, Iluka Resources’ Eucla Basin mineral sands operation is scheduled for completion in early 2010. The project is expected to have a capital cost of $400 million and produce around 450 thousand tonnes of heavy mineral sand concentrates a year.

Mineral processing projects

At the end of October 2009, there were five advanced projects with a combined capital expenditure of $5.7 billion. Two alumina projects account for 85 per cent ($4.8 billion) of the total expected capital cost of advanced mineral processing projects. The Worsley Refinery Efficiency and Growth project near Bunbury, Western Australia, is a joint venture between BHP Billiton, Japan Alumina and Sojitz Alumina. The expansion project is due for completion in 2011, has an expected capital cost of US$2.2 billion and is expected to increase annual alumina production capacity by 1.1 million tonnes. Rio Tinto’s Yarwun alumina refinery expansion, near Gladstone in Queensland, is due to be completed in late 2012 at a capital cost of $US1.8 billion and is expected to add 2 million tonnes annually to production.

Other mineral processing projects include Rio Tinto’s upgrade at the Boyne Island aluminium smelter in Queensland and Tiwest’s Kwinana Titanium dioxide pigment plant in Western Australia. At the Boyne Island aluminium smelter, Rio Tinto plans to replace cranes and runway lines one and two and replace carbon bake furnace lines one and two. These projects are expected to be completed progressively over 2010 and 2011 at a combined capital cost of $US617 million. The Kwinana Titanium dioxide pigment plant is expected to cost $100 million and be completed in 2010.

Figure d provides a breakdown of proposed capital expenditure on advanced projects, by major commodity grouping. Figure e shows the estimated capital cost on a state basis.

At the end of October 2009, the total value of advanced projects (figure g) was at a historical high (in 2008-09 dollars). The average value of advanced projects, in real terms, at the end of October 2009 ($1.5 billion) was well above the average for all years, as shown in figure h. This reflects a combination of high input costs, relatively large-scale projects and the addition of the Gorgon LNG project to the advanced projects list.

Less advanced projects

Projects considered to be less advanced are either undergoing a feasibility (in some cases, prefeasibility) study, or have not yet been subject to a final investment decision since the completion of a feasibility study. Some may confront changes in economic or competitive conditions, or may be targeting the same emerging market opportunities, necessitating rescheduling. In addition, securing finance for project development, even for high quality projects with a high probability of success, is not guaranteed.

Despite the uncertainty inherent to projects at these earlier stages of consideration, the significant number of large scale projects at less advanced planning stages under consideration for development is expected to provide a firm platform for future growth in Australian minerals and energy production in the medium term and beyond.

Of the 341 projects on ABARE’s October 2009 list, 78 per cent (267 projects) remain uncommitted. Table 4 contains a summary of the numbers and commodity distribution of the 267 uncommitted projects, together with their potential capital expenditure. The potential capital expenditure data should be used as an approximate guide only. Capital expenditure data for many early stage projects are either not available or, if available, are likely to change significantly if these projects do proceed to development. In addition, changes in market conditions can often lead to significant variations in capital expenditure estimates. However, most of the projects which will ultimately proceed to development in the medium term are included in ABARE’s current list of 267 less advanced projects.

Among the more notable large scale projects in ABARE’s October 2009 list that are still undergoing feasibility studies are 16 proposed LNG developments that collectively could add nearly 100 million tonnes of annual LNG production capacity in the longer term. These projects include the Browse, Ichthys, Sunrise and Wheatstone projects off the coast of Western Australia and six coal seam gas based LNG projects in Queensland.

BHP Billiton’s proposed Olympic Dam expansion in South Australia, which is currently undergoing a prefeasibility study, aims to more than triple the mine’s current output of copper, uranium and gold. Among the less advanced iron ore projects, seven have an estimated capital expenditure of $1.5 billion or more. These include: Aquila Resources’ West Pilbara mine ($4.2 billion); Atlas Iron’s Ridley magnetite project ($3 billion); Australasian Resources’ Balmoral South magnetite project ($2.7 billion); and Crossland Resources’ Jack Hills Stage 2 mine ($1.5 billion).

4 Number of less advanced projects, October 2009
	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	NT	Aust	potential capital expenditure ($m)
Commodity
Mining - energy projects
Black coal	24	0	42	1	0	0	0	67	38 085
Coal seam gas	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	5	565
Petroleum	4	4	10	11	0	0	8	37	129 686
Uranium	0	0	2	3	4	0	3	12	1 780
Sub-total	32	4	55	15	4	0	11	121	170 116
Mining - minerals projects
Bauxite	0	0	3	1	0	0	0	4	2 355
Copper	1	0	5	0	8	0	0	14	1 516
Gold	6	0	3	14	1	0	1	25	3 146
Iron ore	0	0	0	31	6	0	1	38	29 026
Lead-zinc-silver	6	0	2	3	1	0	1	13	3 177
Mineral sands	2	2	0	3	0	0	0	7	375
Nickel	0	0	5	11	0	1	0	17	15 471
Rare earths	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	2	1 122
Tin	0	0	1	0	0	2	0	3	674
Vanadium	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2	879
Other commodities	3	0	2	5	0	1	2	13	3 291
Sub-total	18	2	21	71	16	4	6	138	60 832
Mineral processing
Alumina	0	0	2	2	0	0	0	4	6 507
Copper	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	na
Crude iron and steel	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	542
Magnesium	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	20
Titanium minerals	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	120
Sub-total	0	1	3	3	1	0	0	8	7 189
Total	50	7	79	89	21	4	17	267	238 337

Projects new to ABARE’s list

There are 44 projects (both advanced and less advanced) that are new to ABARE’s list since April 2009. The significant increase in projects reflects an increase in prices during this period and an improved outlook for minerals and energy commodities. In comparison, 11 projects were added to the list in the six months to April 2009, a period in which commodity prices fell sharply and access to credit was reduced. Figure i provides a summary of the 44 newly listed projects in the six months ended October 2009 by commodity category. Of these 44 projects, nine are either committed or already under construction.

Among the less advanced projects new to ABARE’s list, the more significant are BHP Billiton’s Yeeliree uranium project in Western Australia, Bonaparte floating LNG project in the Northern Territory, Cape Aluminium’s Pisolite Hills bauxite project in Queensland, Bauxite Resources Kemerton Alumina Refinery in Western Australia and the Lindsay, Brilliant, Kalpini gold project in Western Australia.

Also new to the list are 18 coal projects that will add to Australia’s future production capacity. These include the New Acland (stage 3), Monto (stage 2), Woori, Millennium expansion, Middlemount (stage 1 and 2)
and Kevin’s Corner coal projects in Queensland and five new coal rail projects in New South Wales.