BHP Billiton To Spend $9.5B On Aussie Projects

BHP Billiton BHP, the world's largest mining company, said it plans to spend $9.5 billion to expand Australian coal and iron ore projects to meet soaring demand from Asian customers. Last month, the Anglo-Australian mining giant said it planned to spend $80 billion on new projects and upgrades through 2015. BHP said its iron ore operations in western Australia will see an investment of $7.4 billion, expanding its capacity to more than 220m metric tonnes a year, according to the BBC. The company is the third-largest iron ore producer in the world behind Brazil's Vale VALE and Rio Tinto RIO. The company also said it is looking to boost its metallurgical coal output through investments in Queensland, Australia. BHP is the world's top producer of coking coal used for steel production. BHP is looking to boost its iron ore production in western Australia to over 220 million tons per year and that it is looking to increase port and rail capacity so that its mines can operate at full capacity.