TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese refiner Idemitsu Kosan Co said on Tuesday it would invest 11.5 billion yen ($124.4 million) to nearly triple coal output at Boggabri Mine in Australia to 4.3 million tons a year in 2013, backed by firm demand in Asia.

Idemitsu, Japan’s third-biggest refiner, will first raise output to 2.5 million tons a year in July-December 2010 from 1.5 million tons a year, the company said in a statement.
The firm is involved in four mines in Australia, Ensham Mine (in which it holds an 85 percent stake) in Queensland, and three projects in New South Wales, Boggabri Mine (100 percent stake), Muswellbrook Mine (100 percent stake) and Tarrawonga Mine (30 percent stake).
Idemitsu’s stakes in the four projects are worth about 10 million tons of output in 2009, the company said. ($1=92.44 Yen)