Anglo American's South African subsidiary, Kumba Iron Ore, saw Q2 production at its Sishen mine rise 38% year on year to 7.9 million mt due to "improved mining productivity [resulting from] fleet efficiencies and higher plant yields," the company said Thursday.
This output also marked a quarter-on-quarter rise of 3%, the company said in its latest quarterly results statement.
The mine has seen a solid and consistent performance and ongoing improvements since restructuring, Kumba said, adding that for full-year 2017 it was expected to produce 28 million-29 million mt of iron ore.
Its second mine Kolomela saw output of 3.5 million mt for Q2 rise 11% on the year and 25% on the quarter, also owing to improvements in productivity.
Kumba said the mine was on track to meet full-year production of 13 million-14 million mt.
Export sales volumes were up 8% on the year at 9.4 million mt and domestic sales were 925,000 mt, 32% higher. The company raised its guidance for full-year sales to 41 million-43 million mt.
As reported last week by S&P Global Platts, Kumba said its earnings for H1 will be at least 20% higher year on year.
