Leighton Holdings Ltd's Asian business has secured an USD 195 million expansion on a Mongolian coal mine contract.

Leighton said that Energy Resources had requested Leighton Asia expand production capacity at the UHG coal mine in Mongolia's South Gobi region.

Leighton Asia won the mining contract for the UHG mine in February this year and coal production began in March.

The contract has been expanded from production of 2.5 million tonnes of coal per year to five million tonnes per year by December 2010, taking the value of the contract to USD 480 million.

Mr Hamish Tyrwhitt MD of Leighton Asia said that "This request to expand capacity at UHG mine is testament to the strong working relationship we have with Energy Resources.”

(Sourced from AAP NewsWire)