utah international's management senior vice presic 6 the general electri • utah's largest sphere of activity is in australia where 89.2 owned utah development company conducts coking coal mining operations and has a one-third interest in an iron-ore mining project • in canada utah mines ltd a wholly-owned subsidiary operates the island copper mine • ladd petroleum corporation a wholly-owned subsidiary pro duces oil and natural gas in the u.s and canada • through its interest in samarco mineracao s.a utah is partici pating in a vast new iron-ore-producing venture in brazil • utah has interests in ocean shipping through wholly-owned subsidiaries utah shippers inc and utah transport inc and its 46 owned affiliate marcona corporation • utah's domestic mining operations include steam coal and iron ore as well as a copper interest in the western united states in addition a vigorous exploration program spans the globe and includes such areas as the western u.s australia canada the south pacific africa and brazil seeking new sources of minerals traditionally mined by utah mining coking coal in australia utah is a leading producer of coking or metallurgical coal a product characterized by special properties suitable for use in the steel-making process utah development company operating solely in australia cur rently operates four mines in the bowen basin of central queensland blackwater the first mine developed is wholly owned with the mines at goonyella peak downs and saraji 85 owned by utah development company all of the mines are modern open cut operations with efficient coal preparation facilities to control the quality of the delivered product in 1 976 shipments of more than 1 5 million metric tons were made from these mines to japa nese and european steel companies under existing long-term sales contracts assured coking coal reserves as of october 31 , 1 975 amounted to 362.7 million metric tons economic conditions permitting additional reserves are available for development located as they are in relatively unpopulated areas these mines have required substantial investments in the region's infrastructure including roads townships railroads water power and communi cations services the modern towns of moranbah and dysart have been built to house the families of employees at hay point the port on australia's northeast coast that handles the output of the goonyella peak downs and saraji mines utah development company has constructed one of the world's most efficient coal shipping terminals utah plays an important and constructive role in the economic development of the region utah has several properties in australia under consideration for future development and conducts an ongoing exploration program there at norwich park utah has proposed building afifth coking coal operation situated some 30 miles south of saraji this mine would be in a position to share much of the infrastructure that has already been completed recent policy changes by the australian government are having a positive effect on mining companies operating in that country the coking-coal export duty of 6 australian per metric ton was reduced to 4.50 per metric ton in august and the present govern ment has announced its intention to phase out this duty over a three-year period this shift in policy by the australian government is expected to encourage development of new mining projects increase the competitiveness of its coking coals in the world market is one of the world's apacity coal shipping termi ently expanded the port facility the capacity to load and ship 20