yet another surge in China’s output give Australia’s mining companies a bright future, our favorites at Ebeling Heffernan include.

ASX:MSL

The MAC Services Group Limited is an Australia-based company. The Company is engaged in supplying accommodation services to the mining, construction and resource industries. The Company operates in Australia. The Company’s operating divisions include The MAC Accommodation, The MAC Construction, The MAC Property Maintenance, The Mac Travel and The MAC Linen Services. The MAC Accommodation division has 4,500 permanent rooms under ownership and management in the townships of Nebo, Coppabella, Moranbah, Middlemount and Dysart in the Central Bowen Basin region of North Queensland and Kambalda in Western Australia. The MAC Construction division specializes in three areas, such as development and design, manufacturing of re-locatable buildings, and construction and installation. The MAC Property Maintenance division provides an integrated maintenance solution for buildings and facilities. The Mac Travel division specializes in both individual and corporate travel.

Legend OTC:LGDI

One of our first Hot List Stocks that was trading at 30c at the time is now over $1 and with more room to grow.

Legend International Holdings, Inc. (Legend) is an exploration stage company. The Company is engaged in mineral exploration and development activities. Legend primarily focuses in the development of its phosphate interests in the Georgina Basin in Queensland. The Legend landholdings, prospective for phosphate, diamonds and base metals, cover 40,525 acres in Queensland, Australia, and 4.7 million acres in the Northern Territory, Australia. In Queensland, Legend’s holdings are historical phosphate deposits located in the Mt. Isa district. Legend’s mining tenements are divided into three project areas: Phosphate Projects, which include The Queensland Phosphates; Diamond Projects, which includes Glyde River, Foelsche, Abner Range and Cox in Northern Territory, and Base Metals, which includes McArthur River and Selby Project in Northern Territory. As of July 23, 2009, Legend held 51.28% of North Australian Diamonds Limited’s voting power.

ASX:NEMNewmont Mining Corporation (Newmont) is primarily a gold producer with significant assets or operations in the United States, Australia, Peru, Indonesia, Ghana, Canada, New Zealand and Mexico. As of December 31, 2008, Newmont had proven and probable gold reserves of 85 million equity ounces and an aggregate land position of approximately 38,840 square miles (100,600 square kilometers). Newmont is also engaged in the production of copper, principally through its Batu Hijau operation in Indonesia. The Company has operating segments of Nevada, Yanacocha in Peru, Australia/New Zealand, Batu Hijau in Indonesia, Africa and Other Operations comprising smaller operations in Bolivia and Mexico. It also has Hope Bay segment in Canada. As of December 31, 2008, the Company had proven and probable gold reserves of 85 million equity ounces. During the year ended December 31, 2008, the Company acquired the remaining interest in Miramar Mining Corporation.

 CHINA’S economic recovery is rapidly gathering momentum, with industrial activity last month hitting its highest level in more than two years and retail spending and investment also posting strong results. Official figures issued yesterday show China’s industrial output expanded last month by a 29-month high of 19.2 per cent, buoying confidence on Australian financial markets.

In further signs of improvement, retail sales rose 15.8 per cent and inflation returned for the first time in 10 months, with consumer prices rising by 0.6 per cent in the year to November.

The strong figures from the world’s dominant growth engine further support the prospect of a ”V-shaped” recovery in Australia’s biggest trading partner, which is expected to play a crucial role in the next resources boom. The data also bodes well for the sharemarket, as investors are putting growing weight on the importance of China to Australia and see the world’s most-populous country as a proxy for Australia’s prospects.

 Yesterday the S&P/ASX 200 Index posted its only rise of the week, gaining 0.6 per cent to 4635.2 points. The dollar rose to US91.68¢, from Thursday’s Australian close of US91.22¢.

Nomura chief economist Stephen Roberts said investors’ attention on China would become more pronounced in the year ahead, as China asserted itself as the world’s second-biggest economy behind the US. ”Over the next 12 months it will decisively become the second-biggest economy in the world,” Mr Roberts said. Westpac chief currency strategist Robert Rennie said the strength of China’s industrial sector was particularly telling, as many in the market had been bracing for a slower month of industrial activity because of unseasonable snow. ”It suggests to us that there is still momentum within the industrial data for China,” Mr Rennie said. ”You could argue that we are not quite at the pre-crisis levels, but we are not far away.” Investment growth, which includes spending on roads and power plants, was slightly lower than in October but still grew by 32.1 per cent over the first 11 months of the year.

Australian exporters are among the main beneficiaries of China’s booming economy, which this year overtook Japan as the biggest export market, buying almost a quarter of Australia’s exports. Figures out this week showed the current account deficit widened more than expected in the September quarter because of slowing exports of coal and iron ore. But Mr Roberts said yesterday’s industrial figures might reverse the slowing in exports, because Chinese buyers would lower their inventories as growth surged ahead.

Economists think China’s growth will be 8.5 per cent this year and could hit 10 per cent next year, but some are concerned that it will struggle to maintain this breakneck pace as the Government’s 4 trillion yuan stimulus fades from view. However, CommSec chief economist Craig James said yesterday’s figures showed China’s authorities had been ”spectacularly successful” at reviving the economy. He said the strength of China’s economy narrowed the odds of another interest rate rise in February – an outcome the market now rates as a 75 per cent probability. In each of past three interest rate rises, the Reserve Bank board has noted the stronger than expected recovery in China and throughout the Asia region, but has not mentioned the US.

Posted by Shayne Heffernan on Dec 12th, 2009and filed underThe Hot List.You can follow any responses to this entry through theRSS 2.0You can leave a response by filling following comment form or trackback to this entry from your site