Mining giant Xstrata announced production had begun ahead of schedule at its Lady Loretta zinc mine in north-west Queensland, Australia.

The mine was originally supposed to start production at the end of 2013, but first deliveries of zinc-lead-silver ore to the company's Mount Isa processing plant are now set to begin later this month.

Chief Operating Officer of Xstrata Zinc Australia Brian Hearne said the project was of significant importance to the firm's production profile.

"It is certainly a fantastic achievement to have production well ahead of the original schedule," he said.

Full scale commercial mining at Lady Loretta will begin in mid-2013, delivering an estimated 1.2m tonnes of ore per annum when it hits full production.

The firm expects this to boost annual zinc production at its Zinc's Mount Isa operations by 20% and provide 230 permanent jobs.

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