The plummeting iron ore price has pushed BC Iron to a net loss for the full year and forced the Pilbara iron ore producer to sustain a dividend drought.

A combination of operational problems at its flagship Nullagine joint-venture project in the first half of the year and volatile iron ore prices pushed the miner's revenue down 40 per cent to $281 million.

Swinging from a profit of $71.8 million a year earlier, BC Iron said $170.9 million in pre-tax, non-cash impairments weighed down a net loss after tax of $158.5 million for the 2015 financial year.

The benchmark iron ore price averaged just $US72 a tonne during the period, compared with an average $US123 million in 2014. After falling to a fresh low of $US44 a tonne in July, the spot price has picked up to about $US53 a tonne.

BC Iron managing director Morgan Ball said the miner was working rapidly to pull costs out of its business and insisted returning cash to shareholders remained a priority for the board once conditions in the battered sector improved.

Before the iron ore price deteriorated, BC Iron delivered strong dividends to shareholders. The miner's third consecutive full-year fully franked dividend in 2014 totalled 32¢ a share and equated to a total payout ratio of 54 per cent on net profit after tax, above the company's guidance of targeting an overall annual payout ratio of 30-50 per cent of net profit after tax.

Entering loss-making territory in 2015 meant neither an interim nor final dividend was an option for BC Iron, something Mr Ball said shouldn't surprise investors considering the current market headwinds.

"Some of the feedback I have had in relation to other companies was surprise that they are paying dividends in this environment," he said.

"We are comfortable with our existing guidance so if we see a turnaround in the iron ore price, given the positive operation changes we have made, we would hope that would mean us moving into NPAT territory and in that scenario we would be very open to an appropriate level of dividends for our shareholders."

On Monday, Fortescue Metals Group paid a "modest" final dividend of 2¢ a share, down from 10¢ last year. The largest of the local pure-play iron ore miners, Fortescue is the only one still paying a dividend.

Mr Ball said the miner's cost-reduction efforts, which had focused on its operations and headquarters during 2015, would turn to look at the potential for "off-site", savings including its haulage costs to joint-venture partner Fortescue's operations and the cost of the agreements it had with Fortescue for the use of its infrastructure facilities.

"We have reached out to them in the past … and we will continue to try and talk to them about that," he said.

BC Iron's cash balance shrank to $67.7 million as at June 30 but the miner significantly reduced its debt burden during the period, with just $6.3 million of debt outstanding.

Some analysts have suggested BC Iron should suspend operations at Nullagine to save cash. Mr Ball reiterated the miner "recognised the need to be pragmatic and make decisions that reflect the iron ore environment we operate in".