Antinuclear

BHP’s shares down as it dallies again with the expensive Olympic Dam dream

BHP seeks more time on Olympic Dam Kristie Batten , 27 September 2012 THE South Australian government says it will carefully consider a request by BHP Billiton for an extension to the December deadline for its shelved $A28 billion Olympic Dam expansion

The government received a letter requesting the four-year extension beyond December 15 ahead of a meeting between the miner and Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy Tom Koutsantonis in Adelaide yesterday.

“Very careful consideration will now be given to the company’s request and the reasons given for seeking an extension,” Koutsantonis said in a statement…….

this will require a lot more work at the pit, a lot more work here in Adelaide and the scale and the scope of that work will be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.”

However, SA Greens politician Mark Parnell told ABC Adelaide the government should reject the request and renegotiate.

“Extending a bad deal for four more years doesn’t improve it one iota,” he said.

“This is really a chance for South Australia to renegotiate with the world’s richest resource company a deal that looks after the environment, is better for the economy, guarantees local jobs and makes sure that all South Australians benefit from the resources that we own.”

BHP has said it did not expect to approve any major projects in the current financial year. Shares in BHP last traded 27c down to $32.54.

September 27, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, South Australia, uranium