Source: Reuters.com                    Date: 01 July, 2010

Coal miner Peabody Energy, rebuffed in a recent acquisition bid in Australia, still wants to expand there to meet Asian demand and is also pursuing opportunities in Mongolia, Chief Executive Officer Gregory Boyce has said.

Mr. Boyce said his company was looking at expanding into Mongolia, which is rich in untapped mineral and coal resources. Demand for coal rose 46 percent in the last decade -- faster than any other energy source, he noted. And he expects 90 percent of global coal demand growth to come from Asia. "China, Mongolia and India are our focus," Mr. Boyce said.

Peabody now has a joint venture in Mongolia. In May the company and China's Winsway Coking Coal Holdings Ltd struck a deal to buy Polo Resources Ltd's stake in the joint venture. Mr. Boyce said Mongolia's proximity to China, with its huge demand for steel-making metallurgical, or coking, coal was the key to the investment. "Met (metallurgical) coal is at the surface, and mining risks are low," he said. "We see Mongolia as a place we want to be."