BHP Billiton has committed $833 million to opening a new mine at its Illawarra Coal business in NSW that will help it maintain production levels at its metallurgical coal unit.
The Appin Area 9 project in southern NSW will be operational in 2016 and will replace production at the west Cliff mine, the Melbourne-based company said in a statement.
BHP is the world's largest producer of steelmaking coal.
The decision to push ahead with the investment comes as BHP and other mining companies struggle with rising costs and falling prices for coal and other commodities, prompting them to re-evaluate their spending plans.
BHP earlier this year closed a metallurgical coal mine in Australia that had been losing money for several months.
BHP said the replacement mining area at its Appin mine, which is one of three underground coal mines that make up Illawarra Coal, will be able to produce 3.5 million tonnes of coal a year and will maintain the unit's annual output capacity at 9 million tonnes.
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The Australian
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