SYDNEY (AFX) - A senior Chinese official has requested a visit to BHP Billiton's Olympic Dam copper/uranium mine in South Australia amid growing signs that the company will press ahead with a major expansion of the project, which contains about one-third the world's known uranium resources, The Australian newspaper reported without citing sources.
It said Yuan Chen, the governor of the China Development Bank, Beijing's strategic lending bank, will on Friday visit Olympic Dam.
The newspaper said Chen, who is visiting Australia, surprised BHP Billiton on Tuesday with a request to visit the mine, and the company's head of base metals in Australia, Roger Higgins, has been assigned to show him and his delegation the site.
It said Chen is also looking over other Australian resources projects and may be looking to fund projects to supply China.
The newspaper said the Chinese may also be interested in directly investing in Olympic Dam, if BHP permits it.
The visit follows the agreement between the Australian government and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Monday on a nuclear safeguards treaty that clears the way for Australian uranium to be exported to China.
China is shaping up as a major market for Olympic Dam, and a sales deal would go a long way towards underwriting BHP's proposed 5 bln aud expansion of the copper and uranium mine.
(1 usd = 1.39 aud)
bruce.hextall@xfn.com
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© 2006 AFX News