23 OCTOBER 2023
Today we released our September 2023 Quarterly Report, which saw us maintain annual production guidance for all of our operations.
Manganese ore production increased by 4 per cent, with a quarterly record at South Africa Manganese and a strong start to the year at Australia Manganese.
Alumina production increased by 3 per cent, as Brazil Alumina recovered from temporary port infrastructure outages, while Worsley Alumina completed planned calciner maintenance.
Hillside Aluminium continued to test its maximum technical capacity and low-carbon aluminium production from Brazil Aluminium and Mozal Aluminium increased by 2 per cent.
We did see lower production at some of our operations during the quarter, which was largely in-line with our plans.
During the quarter, we continued to advance our portfolio of high-quality growth options in commodities critical to a low-carbon future. At our Hermosa project, we commenced federal permitting for the Taylor and Clark deposits under FAST-41 and remain on-track to complete Taylor’s feasibility study in the December 2023 quarter.
Our disciplined approach to capital management allowed us to return US$22 million to shareholders via our on-market share buy-back during the quarter, with a further US$112million still to be returned. We also paid a fully-franked interim dividend of US$145 million following the end of the period.
With macroeconomic conditions creating headwinds for many of our commodities, we remain focused on driving operating performance and cost efficiencies. This focus, along with our planned production growth in FY24 and FY25, positions us well to capture higher margins as market conditions improve.