Third quarter 2006 operations review

Wednesday, 18 October 2006

• Record iron ore production was achieved in the quarter as the Pilbara expansion programme continued to deliver additional capacity.
• Higher grades and improved recovery rates at Kennecott Utah Copper delivered record molybdenum production.
• Mined copper production was lower due to industrial action at Escondida and refined copper production was down due to the commencement of a scheduled smelter shutdown at Kennecott Utah Copper.
• Production at the Comalco Alumina Refinery was only slightly below the record second quarter production, despite two planned major maintenance shutdowns during the quarter.
• Titanium dioxide feedstock production continued to reflect the strength of current customer demand and the expansion of the UGS plant.
• US coal production was at similar levels to the record production achieved in the previous quarter.
• Production of hard coking coal continued to recover but year to date output remained lower than 2005 reflecting customer demand.
• Diavik achieved record diamond production in the quarter.

All currency figures in this report are US dollars unless otherwise stated

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