Xstrata renewed its earlier commitment of spending up to $186 million in canned exploration projects following the government's decision to dump its proposed resources super profit tax in exchange for the tax deal it forged with giant mining companies.

Xstrata said on Tuesday that its Queensland growth projects would be re-started which included initial explorations that have been commenced on Rolleston West, Sarum and Wandoan coal projects.

The company's decisions was largely inspired by the federal government's introduction of the much softer minerals resource rent tax (MRRT), which now carries a headline rate of 30 percent, an improvement from the 40 percent carried by the junked RSPT.

Xstrata announced earlier this week that since the government has backdown from its proposed RSPT, the company would also resume the planned $400 million spending at its Ernest Henry copper mine.

The company's coal division chief Peter Freyberg said that Xstrata's announcement today should effectively lift "the suspension on expenditure announced by Xstrata last month and allows the next stage of planning for this internationally significant Wandoan project to proceed."

Mr Freyberg added that the company is expecting final approval for the projects to be handed down in the last half of 2011, and once the go signal is given, the $6 billion Wandoan coal project is set to generate an estimated 3000 new job opportunities in Queensland.