BHP Billiton achieves record output of iron ore, copper, nickel, aluminium

BHP Billiton, the world's largest diversified resources group, said Tuesday that its output of iron ore, copper, nickel, aluminium and metallurgical coal reached record levels for the fiscal year ended June, helped by phased expansions at existing projects at a time of strong demand.

In Western Australia's Pilbara region, BHP's iron ore mines produced 25.75 million tonnes of iron ore in the June quarter, up six percent on the same period a year earlier and taking annual output to 98.20 million tonnes, up eight percent.

Copper output rose to 342,100 tonnes in the final quarter of its fiscal year, up 17 percent year-on-year and lifting annual output by seven percent to 1.25 million tonnes. BHP said copper output was boosted by the commissioning of a sulphide leach plant at the 57.5 percent owned Escondida mine in northern Chile in the second half of 2006.

The production data come ahead of BHP Billiton (nyse: BBL - news - people )'s full-year profit report on Aug 22 when it is expected

to post a record net income of about 13 billion US dollars, up from last year's 10.45 billion dollars.

The group's petroleum division produced 14.46 million barrels of oil equivalent for the three months to June, down one percent from a year ago, and taking full-year output to 56.72 million barrels, unchanged from a year earlier.

Nickel output for the June quarter totaled 47,700 tonnes, up 15 percent from a year earlier. That brought full-year production to a record 186,300 tonnes, up seven percent from fiscal 2006.

Output of metallurgical coal rose 21 percent year-on-year to 11.13 million tonnes in April-June, taking annual output to 38.43 million tonnes, an all-time high and up eight percent from the year before. BHP Billiton said the strong performance of the group's coal mines in Queensland, including record output from the Goonyella and Saraji mines pushed metallurgical coal output to record levels.

Energy or thermal coal output reached 22.28 million tonnes in the June quarter, up two percent from a year earlier, lifting full-year production by one percent to 87.02 million tonnes.

Aluminium output for the quarter was unchanged at 334,000 tonnes, but still brought output for the past year to June to a record 1.34 million tonnes, up two percent from the previous year. BHP said it was the sixth consecutive year of record aluminium production.



bruce.hextall@thomson.com

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