The investors were identified as Ross Dunkley and Bill Clough, an Australian mining and oil and gas entrepreneur.

A memorial to the Australian mining troops killed at Hill 60 during the course of the war was later placed at the site.

WMC Resources Limited was an Australian diversified mining and fertilizer company formerly listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.

By now, de Bernales' fundraising represented a major proportion of overseas capital inflows for Australian mining and the Western Australian economy as a whole.

LEAD: An Australian mining and investment company said Monday that it had secured rights to mine for gold and chromite in Vietnam.

Employment in the Western Australian mining and petroleum industry has sharply increased, having more than doubled in the last 20 years, from just over 30,000 to over 75,000 in 2009.

Blainey, G. (1964) The Rush that never ended: A history of Australian mining, Melbourne, Melbourne University Press, pp 142-148.

The improved safety features in Australian mining has dramatically increased the forecasted improvement in the deficit to average life expectancy of the working male.

It was the fourth fatal accident in Australian mining in 2009 and the eighth in 14 months.

Despite this, Western Australian mining recovered much better than most, and the general mood was "upbeat", unlike in the previous year.