PERTH (miningweekly.com) - Iron-ore major Fortescue Metals on Thursday reported that its expansion plans continued to deliver on target, with the quarterly shipments up 22% on the previous quarter, and 32% on the previous corresponding quarter.

During the three months to December, Fortescue shipped some 19.6-million tons of iron-ore.

The company told shareholders that it had also achieved a run rate of 100-million tons a year during the month of December, eclipsing its milestone target of 95-million tons a year by the end of 2012.

Fortescue noted that the increased shipments were driven by the ramp-up of the second ore processing facility at its Christmas Creek operations, a drawdown of ore stocks, and the continuation of early ore mining at the Solomon project’s Firetail deposit.

The Firetail mine remained on schedule to deliver some 20-million tons a year by the end of the March quarter, which would increase Fortescue’s production capacity to 115-million tons a year.

The Fortescue board also recently approved the restart of the Kings mine, also at the Solomon project, allowing for the smooth transition of the construction workforce from the Firetail deposit, and minimising costs while maintaining the skilled workforce currently on site.

Fortescue initially deferred the completion of the Kings deposit during September last year, in response to a sharp fall in iron-ore prices.

The 40-million ton a year Kings development has been staged to allow for deferral of capital expenditure, in the event of volatile market conditions. Fortescue noted that the current development programme was expected to see the project completed in the December 2013 quarter, lifting the company’s yearly production to 155-million tons a year.

For 2013, Fortescue was expected to produce between 82-million tons and 84-million tons of ore.

During the financial year, the miner would spend some $6.3-billion on capital expenditure, up from the previously announced $4.6-billion, reflecting the resumed spend on the Kings deposit.