BHP Billiton Q3 Iron Ore Production Up 20%

(RTTNews) - BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP, BHP.AX, BBL, BLT.L), the world's biggest miner, said its iron ore production for the third quarter rose 20% year-over-year to 58.98 million tons.

Iron ore production for the 2015 financial year is now expected to be 230 million tons, 2%t higher than prior guidance.

Third quarter production of metallurgical coal, which is used in steel making, remained flat with last year at 11.46 million tons. However, energy coal production increased 11% from the prior-year quarter to 19.71 million tons.

The miner said its total petroleum production for the third quarter increased 1% from the year-ago period to 61.5 million barrels of oil equivalent or boe.

The company's alumina production for the third quarter remained essentially flat at 1.25 million tons.

Copper production for the third quarter surged 11% to 460,000 tons, while production of Nickel declined 5% to 32,500 tons.

BHP Billiton Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Mackenzie, said, "Our teams continue to exceed expectations and deliver strong operating performance. Our commitment to sustainably improve productivity and lower costs is helping mitigate the impact of subdued commodity prices and supporting returns for our shareholders."

BHP Billiton said it remains on track to deliver Group production growth of 16% over the two years to the end of the 2015 financial year.