BHP Billiton could review growth plans in early 2010 - Chile

If copper prices remain at current levels or keep rising as they have been since having plummeted in December, BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP), one of the world's largest red metal producers, will start considering expansion plans again early next year, according to Diego Hernández, president of BHP Billiton's base metals division. "Prices are higher than we had expected," Hernández told reporters at the launch of BHP Billiton's 2008 sustainability report Monday in Chilean capital Santiago. "But it is still early to decide the future of these projects." Just like the great majority of the global mining sector, BHP Billiton froze its growth plans last year with the financial slowdown. The bulk of the company's expansions in copper has consisted of projects to combat falling grades at its 57.5%-owned Escondida, the world's largest copper mine. But in Chile the company also owns the Spence and Cerro Colorado mines. BHP Billiton's copper production in the first three quarters of its current fiscal year totaled 899,900t, down by 9% year-on-year due to lower grades at Escondida. The company is the world's largest miner by market capitalization. 　　source：www.bnamericas.com