Australian miner BHP Billiton has announced its production results for the third quarter and the first nine months ended March 31, 2013.
In the third quarter, BHP Billiton produced 40.2 million mt of iron ore, up six percent compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year. The company's iron ore output in the first nine months amounted to 122.16 million mt, increasing by three percent year on year.
BHP Billiton stated that the production guidance of 183 million mt for the full financial year remains unchanged, despite cyclone-related downtime during the period. An annualized production rate approaching 200 million mt is anticipated for the June quarter.
In the March quarter, BHP's metallurgical coal production increased by 22 percent year on year to 9 million mt, while it was 26.8 million mt in the first nine months, up seven percent compared to the same period of the previous year. During the third quarter, Queensland coal production was affected by adverse weather conditions, though the recently installed flood mitigation infrastructure enabled a rapid recovery in performance and business was operating at full supply chain capacity at the end of the period.
According to BHP Billiton's statement, its Queensland coal operations achieved a significant milestone during the quarter with first production achieved at the Daunia mine, ahead of schedule. The ramp-up of this mine and future commissioning of Caval Ridge will underpin an increase in the capacity of BHP's Queensland coal business to 66 million mt per year by the end of the 2014 calendar year.