Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator instructions). And first to the line of Michael Dudas with Jefferies. Please go ahead.
Michael Dudas – Jefferies
Good morning, everybody.
Rick Navarre
Good morning, Michael.
Michael Dudas – Jefferies
First question for whoever wants to take it. In your five-year growth plan, as you illuminated this morning, can you talk a little bit about the lead times, the curve of potential capital decisions and what – any early indication how much it could be to get to those types of levels? What type of growth can you provide off the Australian platform without significant capital needs? And that’s first question.
Greg Boyce
Okay, Mike. Thanks. As we indicated, we expect 15% higher volumes in 2010 over this year. That comes virtually with no growth capital in all. Obviously, we still have our normal sustaining capital in the platform. Beyond that, as we start to grow volumes in ’11 and beyond, we will need capital investments at a number of the projects that we’ve got listed.
And I think that you can assume that the volume growth is going to be back-weighted to that four-year period of time only because of the time frames for permitting and for then construction of some of these projects and it varies. Our metropolitan expansion is already permitted, we are already doing the development work underground, we are finalizing the engineering for the surface changes. So that’s going to be in the near – the early part of that four-year, five-year period of time.
We are doing the final – starting final engineering on our Wilpinjong expansions, but that will need to go through some permitting. And our Denham project as well, which is our big expansion new capacity project, will be in the back part. Burton expansion will be – is permitted, we'll be doing the final engineering on that. That will commit on the early part of the period of time.
Now, in terms of capital, we have not locked down yet final capital estimates on some of these projects as you can imagine or going from feasibility engineering into final engineering over the course of the next year. But suffice to say that we expect all of the capital per ton of capacity to be competitive with all other projects that are going on in Australia.
Michael Dudas – Jefferies
I appreciate that. And my follow-up is, recently the Mongolian government agreed to some taxation, government regulation and participation changes in their mining laws and their government. How comfortable are you with those changes and can you just talk a little bit about potential timing, structure, and the opportunities that Tavan Tolgoi could provide Peabody?
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