http://www.smh.com.au/business/mining-boom-back-at-full-throttle-as-capex-surges-20101118-17z9s.html

PLANNED mining and energy investment has soared to a record $132.9 billion after commodity prices rebounded and key resources projects received the green light.
The value of projects under development hit a high in October, up 21 per cent since April, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics reports.
The spending spree signals the mining boom is back in full swing, with annual resources investment tipped to surge by another 50 per cent in coming years.
But it also highlights the risk that a surge in spending will fuel inflation, raising the need for higher interest rates.
The figures showed there were 72 mining and energy projects under development around the country at the end of last month - and this was expected to climb sharply.
The approval by BG Group of a $US15 billion gas export plant in Queensland and iron ore expansion plans by Rio Tinto in Western Australia helped drive the result.
In the mining industry, ABARE said capital spending was expected to top $54.8 billion this financial year, up 58 per cent.
The ramp-up in resources investment is expected to continue as companies decide on a host of potential projects.
The Minister for Resources, Martin Ferguson, said the figures showed the resources industry was going from ''strength to strength''.
"I expect this trend to continue with more key projects potentially coming on line,'' he said.
Forecasts from ANZ Bank show annual spending on major projects in energy, mining and infrastructure will almost double from $50 billion this year to more than $90 billion in 2014.
The deputy governor of the Reserve Bank, Ric Battellino, yesterday said that after growing without interruption for 20 years, the economy could not grow much faster without raising the risk of inflation. As expansion continued, pressures on inflation were ''more likely to be upward than downward''.
''With a large amount of money continuing to flow in to the country over the next couple of years as a result of the resources boom, the challenge will be to manage the economy in a way that keeps economic growth on a sustainable path, with inflation contained,'' he said in Perth.
To this end, economists think this will prompt the Reserve to raise official interest rates by another percentage point over the next year.

J'imagine que c'est encore un de ces sursauts d'optimisme avant le grand plongeon...