PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Major BHP has reported production declines across its commodity portfolio, apart from nickel, during the three months to March, as measures to combat the Covid-19 pandemic took a toll.

Despite the tough quarter, the miner has reported record production at its Western Australian iron-ore operations at its Caval Ridge coal project, in the Bowen basin, during the quarter ended March, along with record average concentrator throughput at its Escondida copper project, in Chile.

BHP on Tuesday noted that iron-ore production for the quarter was down 1% on the previous quarter, to 60-million tonnes, while petroleum production was down 11%, to 25-million barrels of oil equivalent, owing to increased downtime at Bass Strait, caused by adverse weather conditions, planned maintenance at the Atlantis asset, and lower seasonal gas sales.

Copper production for the quarter was down 7% on the previous quarter to 425 000 t, with lower production reported at Escondida on the back of lower copper grades. This was partially offset by continued strong concentrator throughput, the miner said.

Metallurgical coal production for the quarter was 16% lower than the December quarter, at 9-million tonnes, while energy coal production was down 5%, to 6-million tonnes. BHP said that metallurgical coal production was impacted by substantially higher rainfall during January and February this year at its Queensland operations, while the energy coal division was impacted by lower volumes from the Cerrejon project, in Colombia, as a result of a focus on higher quality products.

At its nickel division, BHP reported a 53% increase in production during the quarter, producing 21 000 t. The miner said that the higher volumes followed on from the completion of maintenance activities at the Kwinana refinery and the Kalgoorlie smelter, both in Western Australia, during the previous quarter.

“The coupling of our disciplined controls, the commitment of people across BHP, and our financial strength has enabled us to continue to safely operate and supply our customers with the critical resources they require, and to continue to provide jobs and an underpinning of economic activity both locally and around the world,” said BHP CEO Mike Henry.

“While demand in China has strengthened in recent weeks, we expect other major economies, including the US, Europe and India to contract sharply in the June 2020 quarter. The situation remains fluid, however, with our strong financial position and low-cost operations, our business is resilient, with capacity to generate solid cash flows throughout this period and emerge well placed as the global economy recovers.”

BHP has maintained its 2020 production guidance for petroleum, iron-ore and metallurgical coal, while its copper guidance for its operated assets also remains broadly unchanged.

However, the miner noted that the energy coal production target was under review, after the Cerrejon project was temporarily placed under care and maintenance owing to Covid-19.

Henry noted that BHP had implemented extensive measures across its operations to keep both staff and communities safe from the Covid-19, establishing strict travel and working practice arrangements, including the deferral of non-critical activity on its operating sites to support physical distancing, revised rosters to reduce travel, more intensive site cleaning and health checks.

“I am encouraged to know that the small number of colleagues from our 72 000-strong global workforce who have tested positive for the virus have recovered or are recovering well,” Henry said.