[miningmx.com] — Diversified resources group Xtrata reported on Tuesday that it achieved record annual production of coking coal, semi-soft coking coal, mined nickel and refined nickel in 2010.
It also reported year-on-year increases in mined copper, lead in concentrate and ferrochrome production.
Releasing its production report for the year ended December 2010, the group said the Goedgevonden open-cut thermal-coal mine in SA was successfully commissioned and is ramping up to full capacity of seven million tonnes per annum in 2011.
Furthermore, the new Nickel Rim South mine in Sudbury commenced full mine operation in April and reached nameplate capacity of 1.25 million tonnes of ore per annum in October, six months ahead of schedule.
During the first half of 2010, Xstrata Coal commissioned the underground Blakefield South mine in Australia, which can produce four million tonnes a year.
Xstrata Copper completed construction of a magnetite plant at Ernest Henry mine, part of the operation’s A$589m transformation into a major underground copper-gold mine.
During the year, increased mineral resource estimates were published for Xstrata Copper’s Frieda River project (Papua New Guinea), Las Bambas (Peru), Antapaccay (Peru), El Pachon (Argentina), Lomas Bayas (Chile), Collahuasi (Chile) and West Wall (Chile).
