Atlas Iron (ASX:AGO) says it shipped a record 547,404 tonnes of DSO in the month of March 2011, beating the previous record of 541,000 tonnes recorded in October 2010.

The result has delivered Atlas $240 million cash on hand as at 31 March 2011, up from $143 million as at the end of the previous quarter, excluding any cash acquired via the Giralia takeover. The increase reflects strong sales volumes, higher iron ore prices and reduced operating costs relative to the first half.

Exports for the March 2011 quarter were 1.39 million tonnes, in line with the guidance provided to the market on 24 February 2011.

Atlas is on target to export 1.5 million tonnes in the June quarter. It expects cash costs to remain at $40-43/tonne for the rest of this financial year, with depreciation and amortisation anticipated to be an additional$5-7/tonne. These production costs are globally competitive, which is a significant achievement given the low capital costs of the Atlas projects.

Atlas Managing Director David Flanagan said the record result reflected the highly efficient nature of Atlas’ operations and their ability to generate substantial cash flow.

“This strong result, which came despite terrible weather during the quarter, highlights the underlying strength of the Atlas business,” Mr Flanagan said.

“It also represents the ongoing efforts of our staff and contractors across our operations, who have worked hard to set a fresh record.”

Shares in Atlas Iron have inched upwards after posting record production for March.
As of 9:32AM (WST) the iron ore miner had increased 3.5 per cent, trading at $3.83.

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