Pinto Valley restart continues; BHP halts $60 billion for other projects

After announcing last week that its net annual income for the fiscal year ending June 30 fell 35-percent, BHP Billiton further announced it was placing $60 billion in new development projects on hold to control its costs. Net income for the fiscal year that just ended was $15.4 billion, compared to $23.6 billion a year ago. Revenues during the year were $72.23 billion, up 7-percent over the previous year. BHP blamed falling metal prices, weakening global economies and increasing development costs for the sharp drop in net income. Two big projects located in Australia expected to cost an estimated $30 billion or more were on the list of proposed mining developments the Melbourne-based company decided to put on the shelf. These were the BHP Olympic Dam Copper Mine Expansion, along with a proposed large uranium mining project.

Marius Kloppers, CEO for BHP said on an Australian radio program over the weekend the company now expects long term declines for commodities because of slower economic expansion globally.

For the complete article see the 08-29-2012 issue.

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