Mining Magazine > Panorama > BHP Billiton suffers under Queensland floods

BHP Billiton is bracing for lower sales and production of coking coal plus higher unit costs at its Queensland operations until June, with the floods in the Bowen Basin leading to a 30% cut in production from the September to December quarters.
 
Stockpiling and increased production from the company’s Illawarra Coal in New South Wales aim to mitigate the damage as sales decline by 15% in the December quarter.

While Illawarra Coal recorded another quarter of "robust production" of 1.8Mt, the company warned that two longwall moves were expected to constrain volumes in the March 2011 quarter.

“The decision to increase pumping and drainage capacity following severe wet weather in the March 2008 quarter has minimised inpit water accumulation, although heavy rainfall that persisted for much of the December 2010 half-year has significantly restricted overburden removal,” BHP said.

“When combined with disruption to external infrastructure, we expect an ongoing impact on production, sales and unit costs for the remainder of the 2011 financial year.”

Elsewhere, record rainfall continued to constrain production at Cerrejon Coal in Colombia. Production in the Americas was lower than the September quarter, largely due to an unplanned outage at New Mexico Coal in the USA.