Our growth options
It’s our potential for future growth
Our bioleaching technology is a relatively inexpensive process that helps us recover metal from concentrates that are difficult to treat. It also helps us recover metal from low-grade ores, which is increasingly important as high-grade ore reserves are depleted. Bioleaching also reduces our energy consumption.
We have a world-class portfolio of assets. By fast-tracking our growth opportunities, we are accelerating the rate at which we move our resources to market. In addition, we are focusing on exploration, business development and technology to replenish and augment our resource base and create options for future growth.
Neptune is our first operated,
deepwater, stand-alone oil
and gas facility in the Gulf of
Mexico, and a significant step
in developing a core business
in the region. Neptune adds
to our expanding portfolio of
assets already producing oil
and gas in the Gulf of Mexico,
including Mad Dog and Atlantis.
Photo: Neptune – Gulf of Mexico
TODAY, OUR 33 GROWTH PROJECTS TOTAL AN EXPECTED CAPITAL INVESTMENT OF US$20.9 BILLION.
We need to look beyond our current project pipeline if we are to secure a foundation for future generations of growth. That’s why we are looking to secure growth in several ways – from existing operations to emerging regions, through exploration, technology and possible merger and acquisition activity.
Existing operations offer decades of growth
Our abundance of existing resources in economically and politically stable countries provides us with a unique set of options to deliver decades of growth. We have growth opportunities within our unique portfolio of energy assets, including our oil, gas, liquefied natural gas, energy coal and uranium assets. We also have a range of exciting expansion opportunities across our other operations, including our Western Australia iron ore assets, the Escondida copper mine in northern Chile, the Olympic Dam copper, uranium and gold mine in South Australia, the Cerro Matoso nickel operation in Colombia and the GEMCO manganese mine at Groote Eylandt in north-eastern Australia.
BioNIC™ and BioCOP™ are just two of the registered bioleaching processes developed by our global technology group.
Emerging regions
Many of our assets are in the traditional resource regions of Australia, South Africa, South America and the US. However, we also have significant experience in operating in more challenging geographies. This experience helps us build and strengthen our position in emerging regions – regions that we expect will play an increasingly central role as resource bases in the future. It means we can secure future development options as opportunities emerge in regions such as sub-Saharan Africa.
Expanding the possibilities
As the world’s readily accessible resources become more scarce, we need to look towards technology and expand the possibilities for extracting resources in an economically viable and sustainable manner, and to reach those resources once regarded as beyond our capabilities. We aim to be leaders when it comes to understanding and harnessing future developments in science and technology that will help us to capture the full value of our assets. Every day, our engineers and scientists are developing our understanding of how to locate new resources and unlock resources once deemed too complex or uneconomical to process.
Exploration continues to be an important focus for us. In our minerals businesses we are undertaking exploration in 28 countries, while petroleum exploration is under way in eight countries. We are exploring for diamonds in Angola, Canada and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC); for copper in Australia, Chile, Mongolia, the DRC and Zambia; and for nickel in Australia, Russia and Africa. During the year, we also conducted exploration for iron ore, coal, potash and bauxite across many regions including Australia, Brazil, Canada and West Africa.
Future growth may also include merger and acquisition activity. We evaluate all opportunities for mergers and acquisitions as they arise, and make our decisions based on the long-term value that such transactions can bring to our shareholders.