PERTH (miningweekly.com) - Increased copper and iron-ore output from diversified giant BHP Billiton on Wednesday prompted the miner to predict a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10% over the next two years, to the end of the 2014 financial year.
In its half-year results for the six months to December, the miner noted that its Western Australian iron-ore operations had delivered a twelfth consecutive half-year production and sales record, while copper-in-concentrate production was also up.
BHP said on Tuesday that the iron-ore operations, which produced more than 81.9-million tons of ore during the interim period, had benefited from the company’s decade-long investment in supply chain capacity.
Iron-ore production for the six months under review was up 2% on the previous corresponding period.
During the three months to December, the Pilbara operations also achieved another significant milestone, with the first ore received by the recently installed fifth car dumper at Finucane Island. The car dumper was the last major piece of infrastructure required to increase the port capacity from 188-million tons a year to 220-million tons a year.
Copper in concentrate production at the Escondida mine, in Chile, increased by 70% during the half-year, compared with the previous corresponding period, with BHP noting that the operation transitioned to a higher-grade ore feed and benefited from the completion of large-scale maintenance programmes to increase the concentrator throughput.
Record production at the Antamina operation, in Peru, also contributed to the 14% increase in total copper production for the six months to December.
During the half-year under review, BHP produced a total of 569 100 t of copper, despite a 26% decline in copper production from the Olympic Dam operation, in South Australia, where a planned smelter outage affected output.
Petroleum production for the half-year under review also increased by 11%, compared with the previous corresponding period, to reach 121.1-million barrels of oil equivalent.
BHP said on Wednesday that the half-year production underpinned the full-year production guidance, which remained stable at 240-million barrels of oil equivalent.
Meanwhile, metallurgical coal production for the period under review remained constant, with BHP producing 17.8-million tons during the six months to December.
Energy coal production for the half-year was up 7% on the previous corresponding period, to 37.8-million tons, underpinned by record production from the New South Wales operations, which continued to benefit from the ramp-up of the RX1 project.
However, BHP noted that dragline outages at the Navajo operation and an unplanned shutdown at San Juan, both in the US, contributed to a 7% decline in volumes in the three months to end December, compared with the September quarter.