PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Iron-ore miner Atlas Iron on Thursday reported record shipments during the three months to March, despite weather disruptions in the Pilbara.

MD Ken Brinsden said on a conference call that the company, which owns projects in Western Australia, primarily in the north and south-east Pilbara area and the Mid West regions, had shipped a record 2.73-million tonnes during the quarter under review, compared with the 2.7-million tonnes shipped in the previous quarter.

He pointed out that during the nine months to March, Atlas had shipped more ore than throughout the entire previous year.

“This was a solid quarter for Atlas, particularly considering that this period in the Pilbara is always a bit tricky in terms of dealing with the weather, the hangovers from a cyclone right at the end of last calendar year, and then Cyclone Christine at the end of January.”

Brinsden said that during the quarter, the company had deployed a strategy of stockpiling final product both at port and at mine, which assisted the company in maintaining production during heavy rain periods.

“With Atlas’ Wodgina and Abydos mines performing consistently, we remain confident of meeting our production guidance this year of between 10.2-million tonnes and 10.7-million tonnes shipped,” he added.

During the quarter, Atlas ramped down activity at its Pardoo and Mt Dove operations, as they neared the end of their lives, with Pardoo being placed on care and maintenance at the end of the quarter.

However, Brinsden noted that the production from the Pardoo and Mt Dove operations would be supplemented by increased production at the company’s remaining operations, with the excess crushing capacity at Mt Dove used to process additional mine material from Wodgina.

Furthermore, first haulage from the Mt Webber operation was also targeted for the June quarter of this year.

Stage 1 of the Mt Webber project was expected to produce about three-million tonnes a year. However, Atlas, during the quarter, approved the Stage 2 development of the project, which could double output to six-million tonnes a year by the end of December.

All environmental approvals have been secured for the Stage 2 development.

Meanwhile, Brinsden reported on Thursday that Atlas was assessing a hub proposal as part of its McPhee Creek mine and rail prefeasibility study, which was also nearing completion.

The increased work was driven by drilling success at the Corunna Downs project.

Brinsden noted that the hub proposal would see Atlas aggregate and blend regional tonnes around the McPhee Creek operation, before they were dispatched to Port Hedland. The option would allow for a staged capital investment, which would minimise the up-front capital requirements.