Australian iron ore miner Atlas Iron Limited announced on October 27 that it shipped 293,485 dry metric tons (dmt) of iron ore in the third quarter of 2010, increasing 78 percent from 164,706 dmt in the previous quarter due to the impact of its merger with another Australian miner Aurox in August.
Meanwhile, in the period in question the company mined 774,653 mt of iron ore, rising by 173 percent quarter on quarter from 283,114 mt. Atlas processed 612,649 mt of iron ore in the third quarter, up 90 percent compared to 322,686 mt in the previous quarter.
Atlas also stated that it has commenced mining at its Wodgina mine and has started to ramp up production at its Pardoo mine, both located in Pilbara, Western Australia. The company pointed out that it is on track to more than quadruple its Pilbara iron ore exports to a rate of 6 million mt per annum by December this year, also reporting a 50 percent increase in its direct shipping ore reserves during the quarter. The company had $108 million of cash on hand as of September 30, 2010.
A prefeasibility study on the Turner River Hub, for the expansion of Pilbara production from 6 million mt to 12 million mt per annum by the end of 2012, has been completed with positive results.
As SteelOrbis previously reported, Atlas had agreed to buy Aurox on March 10 in a deal worth AU$149 million at that date. The merger was completed by the end of August.