Atlas Iron Ramps Up Production Ahead of Schedule, Lowers Cash Costs

Mining Weekly reported that Atlas Iron has ramped up production at its Pilbara operations four months ahead of schedule to 14 million to 15 million tonnes per year and lowered bash costs for the third quarter.
As quoted in the market news:

During the quarter under review, Atlas shipped 3.3-million tonnes of ore, which was up by 72% on the 1.9-million tonnes shipped during the June quarter. C1 cash costs for the quarter were down 22% from the A$46/t reported in the previous quarter to A$36/t, while full cash costs, including contractor cost claw-back and profit shares, were down 12% from A$66/t to A$58/t.
“Ramping up production four months ahead of schedule is a testament to the hard work of our employees and our contractors,” MD David Flanagan said on Thursday. “These results demonstrate that Atlas is back up and running at full speed, but this time with lower costs, a stronger balance sheet and innovative arrangements with our key contractors.”
As part of its restart process, Atlas agreed to a contractor collaboration model at its Wodgina and Abydos mines, where contractors could receive an uplift in their rates as the iron-ore price increased, as well as 25% of applicable positive net operating cash flows.

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