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BHPBill -- secures interest in Guinean Bauxite
BHPBill announced the acquisition of a 33.3 per cent interest in Global Alumina`s Sangaredi Refinery Project in Guinea, West Africa, for a consideration of USD140 million. The project comprises the design, construction and operation of a 3Mtpa alumina refinery, 9Mtpa bauxite mine, and associated infrastructure. As part of the agreement, BHPBill will appoint the CEO and CFO of the Joint Venture Company (JVC) and will enter into a services agreement with the JVC for the development, construction and operation of the project, which will be operated in accordance with BHPBill standards. Global Alumina will now hold a 33.3 per cent equity interest in the Sangaredi Refinery Project, Dubai Aluminium Company Ltd a 25 per cent interest and Mubadala Development Company PJSC 8.3 per cent.
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BHPBill -- production report
Total Petroleum Production
Total production year to date was in line with the nine months to March 2006. Natural field decline has been completely offset by operational improvements and no new operations commencing production during the period. Production was higher than the March 2006 quarter mainly due to improved facility uptime, reduced weather impacts, and increased gas sales.
Crude Oil, Condensate and Natural Gas Liquids
Production for the nine months and quarter ended March 2007 was in line with all previous periods. Higher operational uptime and development drilling partly offset natural field decline. Cyclone activity impacted Western Australian operations during this quarter.
Natural Gas
March 2007 quarterly production was higher than all comparative periods. Record production for the nine months was primarily driven by improved facility uptime that benefited from stronger customer demand in Australia and Pakistan.
Alumina
Production and sales for the nine months ended March 2007 were all time records. Over the nine months period, the Worsley Development Capital Project continued its' ramp up. Paranam had full utilisation of its' expanded capacity and Alumar continued to perform strongly. Production was lower than the December quarter due to stockpiling of hydrate from the planned calciner outages at Worsley. This will be calcined and shipped in the next quarter.
Aluminium
Production and sales from continuing operations were all time records for the nine months ended March 2007. All operations performed at record or near record levels due to successful implementation of a series of business improvement initiatives.
Copper
Record year to date and quarterly production reflecting the successful ramp up of the Escondida Sulphide Leach Project and Spence (both Chile). During the quarter Spence produced 33 500 tonnes, which is equivalent to 67% of nameplate capacity on an annualised basis.
Silver / Lead
March 2007 quarterly production was significantly higher than the December 2006 quarter as production ramped up following the completion of the Cannington rehabilitation project together with strong silver production from Escondida.
Zinc
The current quarter's production was higher than the December and March 2006 quarters. Higher grade and an increased proportion of zinc contained ore was processed at Antamina (Peru).
Uranium
Year to date underperformance against the nine months ended March 2006 due to the variability of ore sources and grade, and maintenance activities at Olympic Dam (Australia). Production in the March 2007 quarter increased versus the December 2006 quarter due to improved grade and recovery, and the impact of unscheduled maintenance in the prior period.
Diamonds
As Ekati (Canada) increases the diversity of its ore sources, the mix of ore processed will change from time to time and impact the carats recovered. Production was higher than the nine months and quarter ended March 2006 due to processing of higher grade ore containing lower value diamonds.
Nickel
Production for the nine months ended March 2007 was an all time record, reflecting strong operational performances from all operations. In comparison to the December 2006 quarter, production was lower due to scheduled statutory maintenance at the Kwinana Nickel Refinery (Australia). This has been completed successfully and production ramp up commenced during the quarter.
Iron Ore
Record production and sales were achieved for the nine months ended March 2007. This reflects increased production from the recently expanded Western Australia Iron Ore operations in response to continuing strong customer demand. Cyclone activity and tie-in activity for Rapid Growth Project 3 (Australia) impacted the Western Australia Iron Ore operations during the current quarter.
Manganese Ore
Production was higher than the nine months and quarter ended March 2006 driven by stronger customer demand.
Manganese Alloy
Higher production was due to optimisation of the product mix, improved equipment availability and utilisation.
Metallurgical Coal
Production was higher for the nine months and quarter ending March 2007 due to the start up of Poitrel (Australia) and the impact of planned maintenance in prior periods.
Energy Coal
Production was in line with the nine months to March 2006. Production for the March 2007 quarter was slightly below the December 2006 quarter mainly due to a planned 45 day longwall move at San Juan (USA). Operational improvement initiatives at Hunter Valley Coal, a shorter longwall move at San Juan and reduced weather impacts in South Africa led to higher production versus the March 2006 quarter. Long vessel queues off the Newcastle Port (Australia) delayed export sales from Hunter Valley Coal in the quarter.
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BHPBill's proposed California plant blocked
According to Business Report, BHPBill's bid to build an USD800 million (R5.8 billion) gas import facility in California had encountered two regulatory setbacks. One objection was based on environmental grounds and the other was an objection from the state lands commission.
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| Closing price data source: JSE Ltd. All other statistics calculated by ProfileData. |
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