BHP OPERATIONAL REVIEW
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2022
Note: All guidance is subject to further potential impacts from COVID-19 during the 2023 financial year.
- We continue to deliver safe and reliable production.We remained fatality free during the year and have delivered record sales volumes from Western Australia Iron Ore (WAIO), allowing us to fully capitalise on the opportunity presented by high iron ore prices.
- Full year production guidance for iron ore and energy coal were achieved, as were revised guidance for copper and metallurgical coal. Full year nickel production was lower than revised guidance due to a smelter outage in the June 2022 quarter.
- Full year unit cost guidance1is expected to be achieved for WAIO and Escondida. New South Wales Energy Coal (NSWEC) unit costs are expected to be towards the bottom end of revised guidance, which was updated to reflect a targeted increase in the proportion of higher quality energy coal to capture more value from record high prices. BMA unit costs are expected to be marginally above revised guidance for Queensland Coal primarily due to the impact of the divestment of BMC.
- The Jansen shaft project was completed in the June 2022 quarter. Jansen Stage 1 is tracking to plan, with activities progressing at the port and at the Jansen site. We are working to bring forward Jansen Stage 1 first production into 2026 and are assessing options to accelerate Jansen Stage 2.
- The divestment of BHP's 80% interest in BMC to Stanmore and the merger ofBHP's oil and gas portfolio with Woodside Energy were completed during the June 2022 quarter.
- BHP announced that it will retain NSWEC in its portfolio and seek relevant approvals to enable mining beyond the current mining consent that expires in 2026, towards a cessation of mining in 2030.
- The financial results for the second half of the 2022 financial year are expected to reflect certain items as summarised in the table on page 3.
|
Production |
FY22 (vs FY21) |
Jun Q22 (vs Mar Q22) |
Jun Q22 vs Mar Q22 commentary |
|
Copper (kt) |
1,573.5 |
461.8 |
Higher volumes at Escondida due to increased grade and concentrator throughput, at Spence due to improved leaching performance and at Olympic Dam following major smelter maintenance campaign impacts in the prior period. |
|
Iron ore (Mt) |
253.2 |
64.2 |
Higher volumes at WAIO reflecting record production from the Mining Area C hub with the continued ramp up of South Flank and improved supply chain performance. |
|
Metallurgical coal (Mt)2 |
29.1 |
8.2 |
Higher volumes driven by improved truck productivity, partially offset by heavy rainfall in the quarter. |
|
Energy coal (Mt)3 |
13.7 |
3.9 |
Higher volumes due to less wet weather and reduced COVID-19 related labour impacts. |
|
Nickel (kt) |
76.8 |
18.8 |
Higher volumes due to reduced COVID-19 labour impacts, offset by an unplanned smelter outage. |
Group copper equivalent production for the 2022 financial year decreased by 4%4 mainly due to lower copper and coal volumes. Group copper equivalent production for the 2023 financial year is expected to increase by approximately 4% from the 2022 financial year.