Japanese Mitsubishi Corp. has announced to invest ￥126 billion to acquire an interest in a coal mine in Australia.

The BHP-Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA), a 50-50 joint venture between BHP and Mitsubishi, will acquire 100 percent of the New Saraji Project from Australian miner New Hope Corp.

New Hope's total coal resources estimate for New Saraji is 690 million tons. BMA expects to start exploration in 2013 and the plant will have 8 million tons output per year.