Mining giant BHP Billiton has reported strong production growth across its coal, iron ore and copper assets.
BHP’s West Australian iron ore mines achieved their 13th consecutive record production output in the 2012/13 financial year, the company said in a report today.
Meanwhile, production at its Queensland coal mines was up 54 per cent in the June quarter, compared to the previous quarter.
Copper production at BHP’s Escondida mine in Chile was also up, by 28 per cent, over the financial year.
The world’s largest diversified resources company produced 169.9 million tonnes of iron ore, up 7.0 per cent, as it continues a major expansion in the Pilbara.
By the fourth June quarter the company was producing at a rate of 217 million tonnes a year.
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Total petroleum production was up six per cent to 235.8 million barrels of oil equivalent.
It blamed extended maintenance and drilling delays at its some of its Gulf of Mexico assets that it does not operate for constrained petroleum production growth.
Petroleum has been the company’s second highest earner behind iron ore in recent years.
BHP said that both its Western Australia Iron Ore and Escondida copper project in Chile had exceeded production guidance while annual records were achieved across seven operations and five commodities.
Total copper production increased by 10 per cent to 1.21 million tonnes.
Production at Escondida, the world’s largest copper mine, increased by 28 per cent to 1.1 million tonnes for the year as the average copper grade mined rose to 1.4 per cent and milling rates improved, BHP said.
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Uranium production at Olympic Dam was up six per cent as recoveries improved.
Copper production at the mine was up from last quarter, but down on a year-to-year comparison, as was the production of gold and silver.
In another production report posted on the stock exchange today Wesfarmers says production at its coal mines rose sharply in the June quarter after recovering from the effects of wet weather over the summer.
The company said 2.84 million tonnes of coal was produced from its coal mines over the quarter, up 25.2 per cent from the previous quarter, Wesfarmers said in a production report on Wednesday.
Metallurgical coal production increased by 28.9 per cent and steaming coal production was up by 17.5 per cent compared to the previous quarter.
The Perth-based conglomerate owns two coal mines, Curragh, in Queensland’s Bowen Basin and Bengalla in NSW’ Hunter Valley.
Wesfarmers said production at Curragh was diminished in the first quarter due to wet weather caused by Cyclone Oswald and a scheduled shutdown during the Christmas period.
As a result, metallurgical coal production for the year increased was up just 2.3 per cent to 7,380,000 tonnes.
