Added production from mines acquired in the Rio Algom takeover nudged BHP-Billiton‘s (BHP-N) copper production past the 1-million-tonne mark for the fiscal year ended June 30.
The newly merged miner’s copper production rose to 1.02 million tonnes from 847,500 tonnes in fiscal 1999-2000.
Production of nearly all non-ferrous metals grew for BHP-Billiton, compared to consolidated pre-merger figures for the previous fiscal year. Aluminum production increased to 984,000 tonnes from 883,000 the year before, zinc production was 10% higher at 140,174 tonnes, and nickel operations turned out 60,800 tonnes, an increase of 12%.
At the Ekati diamond mine in the Northwest Territories, higher ore grades and throughputs combined to increase diamond production 10% year-over-year. Ekati produced 1.4 million carats in fiscal 2000-2001, up from 1.3 million a year before.
BHP-Billiton’s iron ore and coking coal operations also saw production increases, while its thermal coal and crude oil numbers remained steady.
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