BHP and Lynas – BIG is not necessarily beautiful or commercially successful

Australia’s a great place for the myth of BIG. Apart from its odd icons like The Big Banana, Big Pineapple, Big Cow – for kids to gawk at, – Australia also boasts BIG mining/processing plans for adults to gawk at.

So – we have the prospect of – The Biggest Man-Made Hole on the planet – BHP Billiton’s new open cut Olympic Damn uranium mine. And the prospect of the Biggest Rare Earths Processing Plant on the planet – Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) – being placed in Malaysia, but by an Australian company.

Or do we have those prospects? There’s some doubt that the new Olympic Dam will be commercially viable, or will even get the go ahead from the BHP Board. There’s some doubt that LAMP will go ahead, in its present planned form, as Malaysia might insist on a proper plan for long term disposal of its radioactive wastes