18 October 2006
Third quarter 2006 operations review
- Record iron ore production was achieved in the quarter as the Pilbara expansion programme continued to deliver additional capacity.
- Higher grades and improved recovery rates at Kennecott Utah Copper delivered record molybdenum production.
- Mined copper production was lower due to industrial action at Escondida and refined copper production was down due to the commencement of a scheduled smelter shutdown at Kennecott Utah Copper.
- Production at the Comalco Alumina Refinery was only slightly below the record second quarter production, despite two planned major maintenance shutdowns during the quarter.
- Titanium dioxide feedstock production continued to reflect the strength of current customer demand and the expansion of the UGS plant.
- US coal production was at similar levels to the record production achieved in the previous quarter.
- Production of hard coking coal continued to recover but year to date output remained lower than 2005 reflecting customer demand.
- Diavik achieved record diamond production in the quarter.
All currency figures in this report are US dollars unless otherwise stated