BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) said Thursday it expects to start exporting uranium to China in the near future.

"Obviously, we see China as a growing market for us and we would expect to have sales to them in the near future," said Dean Dalla Valle, chief operating officer of BHP's Australian uranium unit.

When pressed on a timeframe, he said the miner's Olympic Dam operation in South Australia state will start exports to China "within a year."

BHP has been studying a potential expansion of Olympic Dam, which also produces copper and gold, since it bought the mine in 2005 as part of its takeover of WMC Resources.

Dalla Valle told reporters on the sidelines of a mining conference in Perth that public submissions on the company's proposed multi-billion-dollar Olympic Dam expansion close Aug. 7. The company hasn't given an updated cost estimate for the expansion, which analysts say could cost up to US$15 billion.

BHP will respond to the submissions and publish a supplementary environmental impact statement, he said, adding that government approvals for the expansion could be forthcoming in mid-2010.

However, Dalla Valle declined to be drawn on cost and startup dates for the expansion.

It could be "another few years" after receiving government approvals before BHP is "in a position to make a call" on the timing of the expansion.

Turning to its Yeelirrie venture in Western Australia state, Dalla Valle said that BHP is drilling to clarify the extension of the uranium deposit at the same time as seeking government approvals for a mine.

Construction at Yeelirrie could start in 2011, he said.

  -By Stephen Bell, contributing to Dow Jones Newswires; 61-8-9244-4243; sgbell@bigpond.com