Anglo American PLC (AAUK) Chief Executive Cynthia Carroll predicted Monday a "very robust" long-term outlook for the mining industry but said there were question marks over the sustainability of the recovery so far.

"We may see some easing in growth in the short term but the longer-term fundamentals remain sound. The long-term fundamentals for the mining industry remain very robust from both the demand and supply sides," Carroll said at a Brisbane mining club luncheon.

Continued debt reduction by households, companies and banks and the shadow of rising unemployment and large budget deficits in major Western economies were still a "great concern," she said.

Carroll tipped copper, iron ore, coking coal, platinum and diamonds - all major products of Anglo - as the commodities with the strongest future fundamentals.

"The industry has seen curtailment of many high-cost operations in nickel, iron ore and coking coal...At the same time, the difficult financing conditions are expected to continue, which will impact the funding and timing of many potential new mines and expansions, constraining supply as economic growth returns," she said.

Since the start of the year, prices for commodities such as copper have more than doubled, led by record copper, coal and aluminum imports into China.

"While recognizing the interdependence of the world's leading economies, policymakers in both China and India have made clear their determination to support domestic demand growth to offset the weakness of their exports to the major western economies," Carroll said.

Anglo's US$17 billion project pipeline would increase "organic output growth by a third by 2013," Carroll said, excluding unapproved projects.

Aside from the trials of steering a business through the global financial crisis, during her tenure Carroll has had to address the company's "appalling" safety record and respond to a merger proposal from rival Xstrata PLC.

In the years prior to Carroll's appointment in late 2006 hundreds of workers died in the company's mines, with South Africa's deep-level platinum operations proving the worst for safety.

Fatalities have fallen by 52% over the last two years.

Streamlining of operations and cost reductions would deliver strong savings with over US$1 billion in savings expected by the end of 2009 and US$2 billion by 2011, she said.

Meantime, Xstrata said a combined group would generate at least US$1 billion a year in cost savings and be better positioned to compete against larger peers such as BHP Billiton Ltd.

-By Elisabeth Behrmann, Dow Jones Newswires;

61-2-8272-4689 elisabeth.behrmann@dowjones.com