Produced tonnes for the June quarter were also up, with Sebuku recording 697,000t compared to 626,000t from the March period. Sales in the March quarter were 642,000t.
Sales for the six months to June totaled 1.35 million tonnes, an improvement on the 1.24Mt from the corresponding 2004 period.
The 707,000t are less than half the 2005 target figure of 3Mt, however Straits was confident that that could be achieved given the first half of the year was typically slower because of the rainy season. This year's sales target is a 500,000t increase on 2004.
Straits' predicted higher production targets again for 2006 and said "firmer contract prices" meant it should better its financial performance at Sebuku.
Near-mine exploration at Sebuku during the quarter had increased the company's understanding of the geology and a revised "coal deposition regime" was being drilled tested.
A revised resource estimate was expected for the September quarter.
Meantime Straits brought into production the Whim Creek copper mine in Western Australia and the Mt Muro gold mine in Indonesia, which together should add around $US90 in revenue during 2006 – an increase that will improve Straits' total revenue by more than 70%.
Whim Creek produced 934t for the quarter at a rate of 30t per day. That rate was being ramped up to 50tpd to take projected copper cathode production for 2005 to 10,000t, increasing to 15,000-17,000t in 2006.
About 420,000t of ore had been stacked and placed under leach by June end.
At Mt Muro, near-mine resources and stockpiles will be mined during the September quarter as a road to the high-grade Botol resource is completed.
First production from Botol should follow in the final quarter with forecast production for 2006 set at 100,000 gold ounces.
Near-mine exploration at the Soan prospect and Serjuan East deposit has taken the total Mt Muro project resource from 600,000oz to 800,000oz.
The company also has a bevy of development and exploration opportunities it will be progressing during the September quarter.
Straits corporate affairs manager David Greenwood told MiningNews.net the company was in an enviable position.
"The idea is to have developed, developing and exploration projects," he said.
"We've got diversified producers at the top and new projects coming through – that's the ideal for any company."
Greenwood said becoming a diversified producer helped Straits diversify risk and take advantage of market surges across several commodities.
"Some commodities are going to be stronger than others at various times – we are able to diversify risk by commodity.
"There are very few true diversified producers in Australia at the moment so we have a bit of a niche."
Greenwood said the company was "very positive" about the market futures of the commodities to which it was exposed.
"Energy is looking fantastic. Copper is looking good because of growth out of Asia as it is tied to the building industry, and stockpiles are still at a historical low.
"Gold as we see it is a bit of a hedge and salt – the Yannarie solar salt project in northern WA – is a long-term prospect ideally suited to supply Asia directly from Australia – as we aim to do with all our commodities," he said.
Drilling at the Hillgrove development project in New South Wales has taken resources to 1.2 million gold equivalent ounces, while approvals and designs were ongoing at the Yannarie solar salt project.
Exploration was continuing in Queensland and WA.
