In morning trade the BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) share price has edged lower following the release of its operational review for the half year ended December 31.
At the time of writing the mining giant's shares are down 0.5% to $33.07.
What happened in the first half?
During the first half the company produced 63 MMboe of petroleum, which was down 1% on the prior corresponding period. Management advised that lower seasonal gas sales at Bass Strait were partially offset by its Pyrenees operation resuming production in the second quarter.
Copper production was also down 1% on the prior corresponding period to 825kt. Second quarter production was up 2% on the first quarter thanks to record throughput at Cerro Colorado and higher volumes at its Spence operation. The latter returned to full capacity following a fire in September.
Iron ore production was up 2% in the first half despite weaker second quarter production. Its second quarter volumes were impacted by the train derailment in November and unplanned production outages at Olympic Dam and Spence.
BHP also reported a 2% increase in metallurgical production to 21Mt during the first half thanks partly to record production at South Walker Creek in the second quarter.
And finally, energy coal production fell 5% to 13Mt during the first half. This was caused by the impact of mine sequence change at the Cerrejón operation.
BHP chief executive officer, Andrew Mackenzie, appeared to be pleased with the company's performance in the first half.
He said: "Production in the first half was broadly in line with the prior period despite planned maintenance and outages. In Petroleum, our first appraisal well at Trion in Mexico encountered oil and we added to our exploration options with successful bids for two licences offshore Eastern Canada. We completed the sale of our US shale assets and returned US$5.2 billion to shareholders through a share buy-back program, with a further US$5.2 billion to be returned as a special dividend on 30 January 2019."
What now?
Management advised that production guidance for FY 2019 remains unchanged for petroleum, iron ore, metallurgical coal and energy coal. However, total copper production guidance has increased to between 1,645 and 1,740 kt due to the retention of Cerro Colorado.
In addition to this, although unit costs were tracking ahead of guidance in the first half, management is confident that full year unit costs for all major assets will be in line with guidance due to stronger volumes in the second half.
Should you invest?
I felt this was a solid half for the mining giant and believe it demonstrates why it is arguably the best resources share on the Australian share market.
I continue to believe it is a great investment option for investors looking for exposure to the sector, along with peers Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) and South32 Ltd (ASX: S32).
