Atlas Iron says it is on track to meet its near-term targeted annual production rate of 12 million tonnes, with production commencing at its Mt Dove mine and pre-strip mining and earthworks underway at its Abydos mine south of Port Hedland.
Haulage to port is set to commence this week at Mt Dove, which is expected to boost Atlas’ North Pilbara production rate to 8mtpa in the March 2013 quarter.
First production and haulage to port at Abydos is scheduled for June 2013 at a forecast rate of 2-3mtpa. Atlas managing director Ken Brinsden said Atlas was set to export between 7.2mt and 7.7mt in the 2013 financial year.
Atlas is also expanding its Utah Point port facilities in Port Hedland in order to ensure they could accommodate the additional tonnages from its Abydos and Mt Dove mines.
“It’s great to be starting the new year on a very positive note with the achievement of these important mining, production and infrastructure development milestones as part of our Horizon 1 growth strategy,” Mr Brinsden said.
“We are also pleased to see the return of positive sentiment to the iron ore sector with a strong rebound in iron ore prices and plenty of activity from Atlas’ customer base. Atlas’ low-cost production growth strategy and expanding production base puts us in a great position to benefit from these improved conditions, just as it enabled us to weather the volatile trading conditions experienced last year.”
The iron ore spot price surged to its highest point in more than a year at around US$150 a tonne as of Friday. It had reached a three year low of just below US$90 a tonne in September last year.
Atlas shares were up one cent to $1.82 at 12:30PM WST today.
