The projects range from million-pound expansions of iron ore operations in Australia to nickel in Brazil and copper mines in Chile and Peru.

BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, the Anglo-Australian giants, as well as Anglo American are sitting on some of the world’s most valuable mineral resources and are in the process of reviewing the financial viability of individual projects.

BHP Billiton’s pipeline includes $5.5 billion worth of projects, including the $1 billion Ravensthorpe nickel project in Western Australia and the $990 million Spence copper project in Chile. The miner is also expanding its west Australian iron ore operations, while exploring the feasibility of a $2.3 billion upgrade of existing facilities that would increase its production capacity from 118 million tonnes a year to more than 150 million tonnes.

Analysts expect BHP Billiton to confirm as early as this week that it has secured a huge price increase for the iron ore that it sells to Japanese steel mills.

Last week Rio Tinto secured a 72 per cent increase in the price that its Japanese customers pay for its iron ore, underpinning the miner’s plans for more than $2.4 billion worth of expansion potential at its west Australian mines.

Tony Trahar, Anglo American’s chief executive, gave warning last week that the company would not rush into developing new projects unless they met stringent long-term financial models. The company’s projects include the $800 million Barro Alto nickel mine in Brazil and the $850 million Gamsberg zinc operation in South Africa.

Booming metals prices, driven by strong economic growth in China and India, have sparked talk of a “super cycle” for mining companies, which could lead to a lower threshold at which mining projects become commercially viable.

Mick Davis, Xstrata’s chief executive, has effectively given his support to the theory with his £3.4 billion hostile cash bid for WMC Resources, the Australian nickel, copper and uranium miner. Mr Davis is confident that although he is prepared to make a cash acquisition at a time of record prices, the cycle is expected to continue its upward momentum.

The boom has also triggered a bonanza for corporate advisers, which have cashed in on the resultant flurry of takeovers, led by Xstrata’s hostile £3.4 billion bid for WMC Resources.

Jean-Raymond Boulle, the mining entrepreneur who discovered the Voisey’s Bay nickel project in Canada, is expected to emerge as the latest target of the world’s leading miners when he restarts a large rutile operation in Sierra Leone. Mr Boulle is the major shareholder of Sierra Rutile, which sits on titanium dioxide worth $3 billion. The operation accounted for 25 per cent of the world’s rutile production before Sierra Leone’s civil war in 1995 forced the suspension of operations.

Mr Boulle will confirm today that Sierra Rutile should resume full-scale production later this year.

Although no one expects a repeat of last year’s global economic growth — the best in 25 years — analysts believe that last year’s soaring metal prices will continue their run, backed by more stable growth in China and the resilience of the American economy, the biggest in the world.

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