Anglo American said iron ore production at its Minas-Rio site in Brazil in Q2 this year was 5.9 million mt, up from 100,000 mt in the same quarter of the year prior.
The company attributed the increased iron ore production to a “strong” ramp-up phase, which “continues ahead of schedule.”
“Production of 5.9 million mt was driven by a strong operational performance that reflects the optimization work undertaken during 2018 while operations were suspended, and access to higher grade ore in the Step 3 mining area,” Anglo American said.
The company said the construction of a tailings dam lift is ongoing and is expected to be completed by Q3 2019.
“The conversion of the installation license to an operating license for this lift is expected by year-end, subject to approval by the Minas Gerais state government in Brazil,” the company noted.
As for H1 this year, Minas-Rio iron ore production was 10.8 million mt, up from 3.2 million mt in the same period of the year prior.
The Minas-Rio site includes a 529kmlong (328milelong) pellet feed-transporting slurry pipeline. The Minas-Rio site is expected to produce 26.5 million mt of iron ore per year.