South32 leaves door ajar on $US700m coal proposal

South32 Limited has confirmed it will not proceed with an investment in the Dendrobium Next Domain (DND) project at Illawarra Metallurgical Coal following our consideration of recently completed study work and extensive analysis of alternatives.

While our work on the project demonstrated the potential to extend the life of the Dendrobium mine meaningfully, expected returns from the ~US$700M up-front capital expenditure estimate are insufficient to support an investment relative to alternatives considered for the complex.