Jan. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Mining areas in parts of Australia’s Queensland state may get more rain this week after recent falls closed a rail line and forced Xstrata Plc, the world’s fourth- largest copper producer, to halt pit operations at a project.

There may be widespread rainfall of as much as 100 millimeters (3.94 inches) in the next four days near Mt. Isa and Cloncurry in the state’s north, David Jones, head of climate analysis with the nation’s Bureau of Meteorology, said today.

Xstrata expects to resume open pit operations at its Ernest Henry copper and gold mine near Cloncurry later this week after operations were delayed by monsoonal rain. The town has had half its yearly average rain in the past five days, Jones said.

“We’ve seen big totals continuing day after day,” the weather forecaster said by phone from Melbourne. “It will go for months without rain, then the monsoon gets dragged south and it will pour rain and that’s what we are seeing at the moment. Heavy, persistent showers, storms and rain bands in that region.”

The mine is located 38 kilometers northeast of Cloncurry in Queensland’s north. It’s 100 percent owned by Zug, Switzerland- based Xstrata. Concentrator throughput and concentrate production at the site hasn’t been affected, Xstrata said yesterday.

Disaster Relief

The state’s government pledged disaster relief funding for eight local areas in north-west Queensland after the rain caused flooding. The total damage in the eight areas was about A$12.5 million, Andrew Fraser, Queensland’s acting emergency services minister said in an e-mailed statement.

Incitec Pivot Ltd., Australia’s largest fertilizer maker, was storing product at its Phosphate Hill plant south of Mt. Isa after heavy rain halted rail transport, Stewart Murrihy, a spokesman for the Melbourne-based company, said yesterday. Production hadn’t been affected, he said. Queensland Rail said yesterday freight services on the Mt. Isa to Townsville line are returning to normal after wet weather closed it on Jan. 2.

On the other side of the continent, the Pilbara region, where BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto Group mine iron ore, is experiencing near record hot days, Jones said. High temperatures are expected to continue for the next week, he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Madelene Pearson in Melbourne on mpearson1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: January 6, 2009 00:20 EST