4% Drop in BHP Billiton Annual Diamond Production (Corrected)
July 22, 09
BHP Billiton’s 80 percent share of the Ekati diamond mine yielded the company 903,000 carat in the fourth quarter of the 2008-09 fiscal year, brining annual production to 3.221 million.
On a quarterly basis, the output represents a 5 percent increase compared to the June ending quarter of the previous year but a 5 percent decrease compared to the preceding third quarter. On an annual basis, production declined 4 percent.
“Production continues to be influenced by variability of ore sources due to the mix of open pit and underground mining,” the company wrote in its annual production report. “The Koala Underground (Canada) mine which was commissioned in December 2007 has been fully ramped up,” BHP Billiton added.
Mining 4.762 million tons of ore, and assuming that Ekati’s 100 percent production stood at 4.03 million carat, Ekati’s average annual yield stands at 0.85 carats per ton (CPT).
(Last update July 23, 2009 6:28 am)