Mitsubishi to Expand Aussie Coal Mining

The Japanese trading house will invest approximately A$2.1 billion (US$2.17 billion) to expand existing mines and develop new sites owned by the BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance BMA, a joint coal-mining venture the firm established with Anglo-Australian resources giant BHP Billiton. Mitsubishi’s expansion efforts are expected to raise its annual output by roughly 14% to 8 million metric tons by 2014. In March, Mitsubishi and BHP Billiton endorsed plans to develop BMA’s new Daunia mine and grow capacity at Hay Point, a key coal-shipping port. Under its new plan, Mitsubishi’s investments in BMA will reach 433 billion yen.