Just out on Reuters.....6.21 am...

Just out on Reuters.....6.21 am UK
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/finance/external/reuters/SIG=1165jh9eu/*http://www.reuters.com/legacyArticle?duid=mtfh59679_2008-07-17_10-21-36_l17822806_newsml&rpc=44&type=marketsNews

Following on from the Cleveland Hills announcement to acquire a $10b asset......... from Yahoo Finance tonight.....
and closer to home...... and in Qld and another new coal project purchase, by BHP of total resource 690m tonnes from New Hope. Mantle's coal resource is suggested at 500m t resource ..... interesting to see once Mantle's Mt Mulligan 500m t resource approvals are in place and ready for coal mining what Mantle's coal resource will be worth! New Hope's resource is 40% larger and would have better economies of scale but even at half the value, it places Mt M at about $1bn without infrastructure capex. Some number crunching challenge now for the coal buffs.........

The report....

LONDON, July 17 (Reuters) - The world's biggest mining group BHP Billiton (BLT.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) (BHP.AX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and partner Mitsubishi Corp (8058.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) agreed to pay $2.4 billion in cash for a coal project next to their existing mine in Australia, BHP said on Thursday.

The BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA), the world's biggest producer of coal used in steelmaking, will buy the New Saraji project from Australian coal producer New Hope Corp (NHC.AX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), a statement said.

"New Saraji has the potential to be developed into a large-scale, high-quality metallurgical coal operation. New Saraji could also potentially deliver significant synergies due to its proximity to BMA's existing Saraji mine," BHP Billiton Coal President Dave Murray said.

The project, located near Bysart in Queensland, has estimated total resources of 690 million tonnes. (Reporting by Eric Onstad; editing by Rory Channing) "

The article has a typo....I think they meant Dysart, not Bysart.....