Australian iron ore miner Atlas Iron Limited has announced that in the fourth quarter of 2011 it mined and shipped 1.39 million wet metric tons (wmt) of direct shipping ore (DSO), down five percent compared to the previous quarter.
Atlas had $380 million cash in hand as of December 31, 2011, slightly up from $373 million at the end of the previous quarter.
According to the Atlas statement, "Subsequent to the quarter end, adverse weather conditions arising from Tropical Cyclone Heidi, including heavy rain in the Pilbara and damage to the Utah ship loading facility, have disrupted mining, haulage and shipping in January 2012."
Atlas expects to ship approximately 5.5 to 5.7 million wmt in the 2011-12 financial year ending on June 30, 2012, down from the original target of 6 million wmt.