Floods drag Xstrata coal figures down
MINER Xstrata said coal production fell six per cent in 2010 with thermal coal output affected by severe weather in the first quarter and in December.
Total consolidated coal production fell to 79.9m tonnes even as the Anglo-Swiss miner posted annual production records for coking coal and semi-soft coking coal.
The production report did not include any comments on the miner’s current operations in Queensland after the Australian state was hit by severe flooding this month. Xstrata has coal, copper and zinc operations in Queensland.
Total mined copper production climbed 0.7 per cent to 913,500 tonnes even amid challenging operating conditions at some of its South American operations.
Coal and copper are Xstrata’s most profitable products.
The Anglo-Swiss miner is expected to post around a 90 per cent surge in full-year net profit to $5.23bn (£3.3bn), when it reports its results on 8 February.