Australian miner BHP Billiton has announced its production results for the second quarter ended December 31, 2013. BHP Billiton stated that, although the Western Australia iron ore operations continue to perform strongly, the company's full financial year guidance for its Western Australia iron ore operations remained at 212 million mt, given the general uncertainty that exists entering the wet season.
In the second quarter, BHP Billiton produced 48.9 million mt of iron ore, up 16 percent compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year. The iron ore production for the first half amounted to a record 98 million mt, increasing by 19 percent year on year, despite weather-related downtime and an increase in planned maintenance during the December quarter. This record result reflected the strong operating performance, and the early delivery of production from Jimblebar mine in Pilbara, Western Australia.
According to BHP Billiton, the ramp-up of phase one capacity at Jimblebar mine to 35 million mt per year is expected to be completed by the end of the financial year 2014-15. Longer term, a low cost option to expand Jimblebar to 55 million mt per year and the broader debottlenecking of the supply chain are expected to underpin further capital efficient growth in capacity to approximately 260 million mt per year to 270 million mt per year (100 per cent basis).
In the December quarter, BHP's metallurgical coal production increased by 30 percent year on year to 11.54 million mt. During the first half, the miner produced 21.72 million mt of metallurgical coal, up 22 percent compared to the same period of the previous year.