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One industry expert says reports of the demise of Australia's mining industry are greatly exaggerated.
Wal King of construction company Leighton Holdings told ABC's Inside Business programme last night that the mining industry in Australia was "alive and well".
"I think the comments about declining in mining are over-exaggerated," he said.
"One blowfly doesn't make a summer and one mine closure in central Queensland or cutbacks doesn't signal the end of the mining industry."
King said there were some adjustments in terms of high costs producers but that was inevitable.
"In our overall mining business we see big expansions and today we were awarded A$2.5 to A$3 billion worth of projects in Mongolia and Indonesia in the mining business."
However, King told the program, the nation's biggest construction firm had projects coming through the door irregularly.
"We're not selling ice-creams ...(we are) very advanced on probably another A$4 or A$5 billion worth of projects," he said.
"But the way they come through the door and the way we burn it off, the work in hand might peak, it might go from A$39 or A$40 billion back to A$36 billion but that's not the end of the world.
"If you look at the entire history of Leighton, when I started with Leighton's we had, we were doing A$17 million a year.
"This year, we will do 19 billion ... and we believe we will grow into the mid-20 billions, so the company will continue to grow."
King said the company's forward order book and the forward opportunities look strong.
Last week, Leighton Holdings Ltd said it expected to benefit from record orders of almost A$38 billion after beating its own guidance with a 20 per cent rise in interim operating profit.
The company's operating profit before tax came in at A$387 million for the six months to December 31.
King said the federal government should be commended because part of its second stimulus package, worth A$42 billion, would be directed towards infrastructure spending.
"The big question mark is: Can the state governments move quickly enough to be able to put those projects into the field to create employment in the first term ... first-hand, and the second-hand to provide better economies and efficiencies."
- AAP
