Vedanta to exclude base metals business from sweeping demerger
The group said it will consider the base metals business demerger at a later stage.
A week after announcing substantial profits and the expansion of their vast Western Australia iron ore operations, BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) and Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO) said yesterday that they would spend $US 4.5 billion on the Escondida copper mine in Chile.
The two miners have clearly raised their bets on global copper demand, as BHP also announced that it would restart operations at its copper mine in Pinto Valley, Arizona, idled three years ago.
Wayne Isaacs, BHP Billiton Base Metals North America Asset President, said that the company would be hiring more about 650 new workers to boost Pinto Valley’s operations.
About the Escondida expansion, one of BHP’s top priority projects, BHP Billiton Base Metals President, Peter Beaven said that it is part of an US$80 billion capital-spending plan through 2015. This plan includes BHP’s Olympic Dam copper and uranium mine and iron ore expansions in Australia, shale gas development in the U.S. and potash development in Canada.
