By Rhiannon Hoyle
BHP Group, the world's top miner by market value, said it produced more copper and iron ore but less steelmaking coal last quarter compared to a year earlier.
The Australia-based mining giant on Tuesday reported a 17% jump in second-quarter copper output, to 510,700 metric tons.
A 10-year high for production at Escondida, the world's largest copper mine, more than offset the impact of a weather-related power outage at copper operations in south Australia, BHP said.
The miner reiterated annual production guidance for its copper arm, although pared its expectations for the Copper South Australia unit after a significant storm early in the quarter resulted in a two-week power outage.
BHP said second-quarter iron-ore output rose by 1% to 66.2 million tons. Annual production from that business is likely to be in the upper half of guidance, it said.
BHP has been gradually raising output from the iron-ore mines that it runs in Australia by making improvements to its supply chain, including to its port infrastructure. In fiscal 2024, it reported a second consecutive year of record iron-ore production from those operations, which rank among the largest in the world.
The miner is currently working on a project to improve communications and signaling on rail lines that link its pits to a major iron-ore export port, where ore is shipped to buyers mostly in China. That project, which will allow the distance between trains to be reduced, and some wet weather in December weighed a little on production volumes, BHP said.
Write to Rhiannon Hoyle at rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-20-25 1708ET
