Australia’s second-largest coal miner, Yancoal, plans to deploy its $1.8 billion war chest – harvested during the three-year coal boom – to acquire new assets potentially outside of Australia and even beyond the coal sector.

While the miner, which is dual-listed on the ASX and Hong Kong stock exchange, looks for new investments, it committed on Friday to pay its investors $678 million in dividends. That amounts to half of the coal miner’s $1.2 billion net profit over the year. The dividend payment reduces its war chest – which swelled to $2.5 billion over the year – to $1.8 billion.