Mining giant BHP Billiton has announced revised figures that significantly upgrade the reclaimable reserves for its flagship Olympic Dam operation in southern Australia.

New figures released by BHP (NYSE:BHP) point to a 22% increase from 284 thousand tonnes to 347.5 thousand tonnes of of U3O8, due to mineral re-classification as operational drilling taps into larger sources. BHP has correspondingly upgraded the operational lifetime of Olympic Dam from 43 to 54 years.

Olympic Dam is arguably BHP's most valuable asset, as it is a multi-mineral source combining the world's 4th largest copper deposit, 5th largest gold deposit & significant amounts of silver. It is also currently the world's largest single uranium ore deposit.

With a production level of 3344tU last year, Olypic Dam is placed 4th in extraction levels for uranium, BHP are now looking to expand the size of their operations on this site. At present, all mining activities are conducted underground, however, BHP has submitted an expansion plan to local government that would see open pit miningf being introduced to the site. With government expected to make a preliminary decion on the expansion project next year, this is a critical time for BHP, as the following chart illustrates.

In an earlier post, we discussed the impact of Sino energy requirements on Australian miners, as the Chinese are heavily commited to reducing pollution & are searching for cleaner energy sources to power their expanding economic requirements. In April this year, Chinese officials announced they would start building five extra power plants this year on top of the 24 already under construction & 11 already in operation.

"There are not enough uranium resources in China to support the aggressive nuclear power development plan for the next 20-30 years," said Professor Liu Deshun, of China's Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology.