BHP Mitsubishi in Oz coal buy

Mining giant BHP Billiton and Japan's Mitsubishi have agreed to pay $2.45 billion (£1.24 billion) cash to buy a large development project from Australian miner New Hope Coal.

The BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA), the world's largest coking coal producer, will get the New Saraji project in Queensland which has 690 million tonnes of resources.

The deal also gives BMA the right to 10 million tonnes of export capacity at a nearby coal terminal, which is to be expanded.

It is one of several big coal deals in Australia recently. They are being driven by soaring coking coal prices, which have trebled this year to $300 a tonne.

The New Hope deal is BHP's second sizeable acquisition since it launched its hostile takeover bid for Rio Tinto in February.

This week, BHP completed its C$284 million (£141.2 million) purchase of one of its joint venture partners, Canadian potash developer Anglo Potash.