I bought a 2br unit in Roxby in Jan 2010 for $285K when the Olympic Dam was operating at reduced capacity after the mine accident. It was recently valued at $360K. I have a 12 month coroprate lease (about to be re-newed). Current rented at $440 per week – around 8%.

Agree that mining areas can be risky, but Roxby appears to have good prospects for the future. A camp will be built for a lot of the workers involved in the expansion, but Roxby Downs itself is expected to increase to around 10,000 people (it is now around 4,500). The rental market at the moment at the moment is very tight with almost no vacancies.

A lot of Roxby's long term future will depend on BHP's board approving the expansion, but keep in mind there is also discussion at the moment about the potential for mining in the area north of Woomera (about 80kms from Roxby), obviously can't say what impact this might have on the towns in the region (but I'd think it would be positive).