BHP Billiton Reports 14% drop in Ekati Diamond Production
October 27, 05
Diversified miner and Ekati diamond mine owner BHP Billiton announced third quarter production results, seeing diamond mining output fall 14 percent. BHP’s 80 share of Ekati produced 852,000 carats during the quarter, compared to 986,000 carats in the third quarter of 2004.
Diamond production decreased in the September 2005 quarter reflecting the processing of lower grade ore at Ekati. BHP expects it to continue for the remainder of the 2006 financial year.
The miner reported record quarterly copper and nickel production reflecting the successful integration of the recently acquired OIympic Dam and Nickel West (both Australia) assets.
Petroleum volumes were impacted by hurricane related production disruptions in the Gulf of Mexico, U.S. and unplanned outages at North West Shelf in Australia. In Western Australia, Iron Ore production was impacted by unseasonably wet weather conditions and a train derailment.
Total production for the September 2005 quarter of 31.4 million barrels of oil equivalent was higher than the September 2004 quarter. This primarily reflects increased natural gas production. Production was lower than the June 2005 quarter primarily reflecting hurricane related production disruptions in the Gulf of Mexico.