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　　Chinese steel makers² have agreed to pay record prices for iron ore from the remote Pilbara region of Western Australia. In a deal signed this week, Australian mining giant Rio Tinto has secured increases that almost double the price of some grades of the mineral.
中国钢铁公司同意以高价购买西澳大利亚皮尔巴拉地区的铁矿石。根据这个星期签署的一项协议，澳大利亚采矿业巨人力拓公司为一些矿石争取到高于过去几乎一倍的价格。
Australia's resources boom shows no sign of slowing down, thanks largely to demand from Asia.
澳大利亚的资源开采热潮毫无减退迹象，这很大程度上要归功于亚洲的需求。
This week Anglo-Australian minerals company Rio Tinto has been negotiating with China's biggest steel maker¹, Baosteel, which has traditionally set the international iron ore price for China's other steel producers.
这个星期，力拓矿产公司和中国最大的钢铁公司宝钢进行谈判。宝钢通常为中国其它钢铁公司在国际市场购买铁矿石制定价格。
In 2007, the Chinese imported 383 million tons of iron ore, up 17 percent from the previous year.
2007年，中国进口了3亿8千3百万吨铁矿石，比前一年增加了百分之17。
In the past, China has paid Brazilian and Australian exporters the same amount for minerals. But this year Australian miners demanded more, insisting their iron ore is higher quality and - because Australia is closer to China - is costing less to transport.
过去，中国付给巴西和澳大利亚矿石出口商同样的价格。但是今年澳大利亚方面要求提高价格，他们说自己的铁矿石品位更高，而且由于澳大利亚离中国近，所以运输费用相对较低。
Rio has secured an 80 percent price increase for the iron ore known as Pilbara fine and a 97 percent increase for iron ore lumps from its operations in northwestern Australia - 10 times last year's percentage increase. The scale of the deal has surprised many analysts³.
力拓得以将皮尔巴拉铁矿石提价百分之80，将西北地区铁矿石提价百分之97，这是去年提价幅度的10倍。这笔交易使许多分析人士感到吃惊。
A spokesman for Rio Tinto said the deal was "very significant," as iron ore is one of the company's key commodities, along with copper⁴ and aluminum⁵.
力拓矿业公司的一名发言人说，这是一项“非常重要的”交易。铁矿石和铜、铝一样，都是该公司的主要商品。
Rio Tinto chief executive Tom Albanese believes more good times lie ahead for his company.
力拓公司的首席执行官汤姆.阿尔巴内塞相信，他的公司未来的前景将更好。
"Overall, Rio Tinto believes that this global shift will see the size of our key markets double over the next 15 years, as demand balloons in line with rising urbanization in developing countries. And, that is also very good news for Australia," said Albanese.
他说：“总体来讲，力拓相信全球市场的转移，伴随发展中国家快速都市化的需求膨胀，将使我们主要市场的规模在今后15年翻一倍。而且，这对澳大利亚来说是个非常好的消息。”
Australia's mining boom has fueled a decade-and-a-half of unprecedented⁶ economic growth.
澳大利亚采矿业的繁荣造就了过去15年前所未有的经济增长。
It is driven by soaring demand for iron ore and coal from China and India.
其推动力正是中国和印度对铁矿和煤炭需求的迅猛增长。
The bonanza⁷ has the potential to end Australia's long-term current account deficit⁸ and push the country's international trade balance into surplus.
蕴藏丰富的矿藏有可能让澳大利亚摆脱长期的经常账赤字，并且推动其在国际贸易中获得盈余。
But despite such massive earnings⁹ in the minerals sector¹⁰, there are fears that the higher income from exports could increase inflation in Australia and push up domestic interest rates.
虽然澳大利亚在矿业方面获得巨大的收益，有人却担心出口带来的更高收入会在国内引发通货膨胀，并且拉抬国内利率。
But Australia's mining boom has cushioned the economy from the worst effects of the global credit squeeze.
然而，澳大利亚的矿业繁荣使它的经济在全球信贷危机的恶劣影响下得以喘息。