Jimblebar iron ore mine

Report summary

The ramp up of production at Jimblebar was faster than anticipated until 2016 but fell short of expectations in 2017 due to the impact on volumes from Cyclone Joyce and unplanned car dumper maintenance.  However, production is forecast to reach 25 Mt in 2018 before achieving full capacity of 35 Mtpa in 2020. This is the same year that Wheelarra is expected to reach 35 Mtpa and is a key goal in BHP achieving total annual production of 290 Mtpa.  C1 cash costs at Jimblebar fell from US$14.80 per tonne in 2016 to US$14.20 per tonne in 2017. The marginally lower cost was achieved primarily as a result of incremental production, despite unplanned car dumper maintenance and port debottlenecking activities in the second half of 2017. While increases to annual production at the Jimblebar site in 2018 and 2019 should, in theory, reduce average operating costs further, we expect costs will increase marginally in 2018 as rising fuel prices impact mining costs.