2.5 Minerals exploration

Our exploration program is integral to our growth strategy and is focused on identifying and capturing new world-class projects for future development, or projects that add significant value to existing operations. Targets for exploration are generally large low-cost mining projects in a range of minerals, including diamonds, copper, nickel, bauxite, iron ore, manganese, coal and potash. The process of discovery runs from early-stage mapping through to drilling and evaluation. The program is global and prioritises targets based on our assessment of the relative attractiveness of each mineral.

We continue to pursue opportunities and build our position in prospective countries, including exploring for diamonds in Angola and copper in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Zambia, Kazakhstan, Chile and Australia. In nickel, we have a major brownfield exploration program focused on finding new nickel sulphide deposits to sustain and grow our existing operations in Western Australia. We are also actively exploring for nickel in Southeast Asia, Russia, China and East Africa. In the bulk commodities, activities are focused on a smaller number of highly prospective terrains in Australia, Southeast Asia, Russia, West and Central Africa and South America.

Our exploration activities are organised from six principal offices in Singapore, Perth (Australia), Johannesburg (South Africa), Moscow (Russia), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and Vancouver (Canada).

In addition to our activities focused on finding new world-class deposits, several of our CSGs undertake exploration, principally aimed at delineating and categorising mineral deposits near existing operations, and advancing projects through the development pipeline.

In FY2008, we spent US$658 million on minerals exploration. Of this, US$212 million was spent on greenfield exploration, US$258 million was spent on brownfield exploration (including US$90 million for Olympic Dam expansion) and US$188 million was spent on more advanced projects.