The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) said the 53 advanced projects (under construction or committed) were weighted toward petroleum and coal projects. Proposed energy developments account for about half of the advanced projects but account for 69% (13.7 billion) of the estimated capital cost of $19.9 billion for all advanced projects.

Spending on coal exploration rose by 55% to $78 million. A large share of overall capital expenditure was spent by Rio Tinto’s Hail Creek opencut mine, with a smaller chunk spent by Xstrata’s $45 million Beltana Longwall in the Hunter Valley.

Committed coal projects numbered thirteen, seven of which were in New South Wales. In the less advanced category, there were seven projects in New South Wales and 10 in Queensland.

Set for a 2004 start up was White Mining’s Ashton underground and opencut, the Dartbrook extension, Southland colliery expansion, Tahmoor North expansion and the Theodore opencut.

The Dendrobium mine with a capacity of 5.2 Mt of coking coal was opened this month.

Scheduled for start up in 2005 was the Mandalong longwall, Mt Pleasant opencut, Broadmeadow longwall, Curragh North and Rolleston opencut.

Some of the underground mines which have operating dates for 2006 and beyond or had not been nominated included Airly Mountain, Saddler’s Creek, Wyong, Grasstree, Suttor Creek and Togarah North.