PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Australian iron-ore miner Atlas Iron has reported record shipments for the first half of the 2014 financial year, along with record shipments for the three months to December.

For the six months under review, Atlas shipped 5.1-million tonnes of ore, with some 2.7-million tonnes shipped during the December quarter, despite severe weather conditions late in the quarter.

MD Ken Brinsden said on Wednesday that the first-half performance and the company’s continued confidence in the outlook for the iron-ore price, put Atlas on track for a strong financial year.

“With the prices we have received, our cost discipline and further record shipments in the face of weather interruptions, we have increased our cash on hand to A$389-million. This is after around A$109-million in investing activities, which will assist in further production growth at Atlas within the next year.”

During the quarter under review, about 2.34-million tonnes of ore was mined, compared with the 2.88-million tonnes of ore mined in the previous quarter. More than 2.77-million tonnes was hauled to port in the three months to December, compared with the 2.56-million tonnes in the previous quarter.

The decrease in the volumes of ore mined resulted from mining operations ceasing at the Mount Dove and Pardoo mines during the quarter, but processing of stockpiles at each site was expected to continue through to the March quarter.

The Abydos mine was also successfully ramped up during the quarter under review, and was making a full contribution to the combined Pilbara production.

Brinsden noted that Atlas would maintain its production rate through ongoing production at Abydos, and with the start of mining and processing at the Mount Webber operation, where first haulage was expected by the June quarter.

Meanwhile, during the quarter under review, a number of new offtake agreements were signed with a mixture of new and existing customers, with up to 7.9-million tonnes of product now contracted for the 2014 calendar year.

The remaining tonnes would be held for spot sales, with further term contracts to be considered once the Mount Webber production started.

Atlas was forecasting earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of between A$193-million and A$203-million for the half-year to December.