Year to date production records were achieved by Illawarra Coal, Hunter Valley Coal and Cerrejon Coal (Colombia) operations.
Illawarra Coal produced 1.74 million tonnes during the March quarter and almost 6Mt for the year to date, while the Hunter Valley mines produced 2.6Mt for the March quarter and 8.1Mt for the year to date.
It was not enough though to offset the devastating effects of flooding in Queensland during January, with metallurgical coal production out of Queensland still hauling its way back to normal operating levels.
“Coal production has resumed but continues to be constrained as the recovery process proceeds and mines are brought back to full operational capacity," BHP said today.
Metallurgical coal production during the March quarter was down 29% compared to the previous quarter, and down 25% compared to March 2007.
Energy coal production during the March quarter was mainly impacted by a scheduled longwall move at the San Juan longwall mine in New Mexico.
