Top mining nation readying fresh investment wave

BHP Biliton says it mined a record 225 million tonnes of iron ore in in the full fiscal year 2014 - Reuters Photo.

SYDNEY: Mining companies in Australia, the world’s biggest exporter of iron ore and coal, are poised to approve fresh investments in projects, driven by rallying commodity prices and the need to replace depleting deposits, according to global equipment supply giant Komatsu Ltd.

“They’re looking at new fleets of equipment,” Sean Taylor, chief executive officer of Komatsu’s Australian unit, said in an interview in Sydney. The miners have to reinvest in output “because otherwise they can’t maintain production at the levels that they’re at,” he said.