Decisions made by BHP Billiton over 12 months ago to tighten its belt are paying off for the the global mining company.

BHP operations in Australia have been subject to a ‘slash ‘n’ dice’ mentality as mining managers wrestle with angry shareholders, toughening global mining competition and the rapid fall in mineral prices.

Investors are dancing in the aisles as BHP are looking at somewhere in the region of a $US13.6 billion full-year profit . . .�that’s a staggering amount. BHP’s profit is testament to their dedication to steer the company back into profitability.

The BHP profits come on the back of 15 years in a row of record iron ore production, which has been achieved by a mixture of mining technology investment and cost cutting exercises which have been felt right across Australia.

Iron ore mining will once again deliver the lion’s share of the BHP`s earnings. Considering the fluctuation in the price of iron ore over the last 12 months, this is a good result for the global miner. Company reports have revealed BHP realised an average price of $US96 per tonne for its iron ore during the second half of the financial year. Of course, this was down from $US112 a tonne in the preceding six months. Petroleum and copper follow in terms of performance in other energy sectors.

BHP recently said the company was�on target to reach its 16 per cent production growth targets across all commodities for the two years to the end of June 2015.

As a truly Australian mining company, BHP is committed to further extending its foothold in the Australian mining industry. Only just recently, BHP were in the news over their intention to fast-track a trial processing plant at its South Australian Olympic Dam site. This added further fuel to the possibility of the Olympic Dam project slowly breathing new hope and optimism back into the South Australian mining sector.

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