Metallurgical coal production from Illawarra Coal – of which Dendrobium and Appin are part – fell to 1.5 million tonnes for the March quarter, down from 1.8Mt in the previous quarter.
Total met coal production for BHP, including Illawarra Coal and the BMA mines in Queensland, were down to 6.6Mt, compared to 7.7Mt in the December quarter.
Energy coal production from BHP Billiton’s Australian operations were up slightly to 3.9Mt from 3.3Mt.
The Bowen Basin has been “significantly affected by persistent wet weather” for a large part of the 2011 financial year, continuing to delay recovery efforts, particularly for the large open cut operations, the company said.
In-pit water accumulation has severely restricted overburden removal and broader mining activities.
Force majeure remains in place for the majority of BHP’s Bowen Basin products with production, sales and unit costs likely to be affected, to some extent, for the remainder of the 2011 calendar year.
Quarterly and year-to-date production and sales records for Hunter Valley Energy Coal in NSW reflect the successful ramp-up of the MAC20 project and the use of the recently commissioned Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group port capacity.
The MAC20 project was completed in the March 2011 quarter and delivered first coal ahead of schedule and on budget.
The Mt Arthur Underground project was in the “future options” category. The Mt Arthur Coal Consolidation project approval last year had already modified the scope of this long-slated longwall project.
Previously approved to produce up to 8Mtpa run-of-mine, the permitted production was reduced to 4Mtpa as BHP successfully made modifications to increase open cut production for an expanded Mt Arthur mining complex.
The planned $260 million expansion will increase saleable thermal coal production by about 3.5Mtpa.
BHP Billiton has also approved the $400 million RX1 project at Hunter Valley Energy Coal, increasing run-of-mine thermal coal production by about 4Mtpa.
BHP started the expansion of its metallurgical coal business with the approval of the $800 million Daunia mine, a greenfield mine development with capacity to produce 4.5Mtpa of export metallurgical coal; the $1.25 billion stage three expansion of the Hay Point Coal Terminal, which will increase port capacity from 44Mtpa to 55Mtpa and reduce storm vulnerability; and the $450 million Broadmeadow life extension project, increasing productive capacity by 400,000tpa and extending the life of the mine by 21 years.
