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BHP speeds up Jansen project in Saskatchewan despite falling potash prices – by Colin McClelland (Mining.com – August 31, 2023)

https://www.mining.com/

BHP, the world’s largest miner by market valuation, is increasing its capital spending this year on the Jansen potash project in Saskatchewan by 55% even as potash prices dropped by more than a third this year.

Construction outlays at the site 180 km north of Regina are planned to rise to $1 billion from $647 million as crews work to start the mine in late 2026 instead of in 2027 as earlier planned, the company’s Calgary-based potash unit said. Jansen’s $5.7 billion stage one is 26% complete and would produce 4.4 million tonnes a year when finished, it said.

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Column: BHP sees China commodity demand as stable. And that’s the best case – by Clyde Russell (Reuters – August 22, 2023)

https://www.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, Australia, Aug 22 (Reuters) – BHP Group reported its lowest annual profit in three years, but the decline isn’t the most worrying factor for the world’s biggest mining company. That prize goes to an increasingly uncertain outlook for its key commodities.

BHP (BHP.AX) said on Tuesday the company’s underlying attributable profit for the year ended June 30 dropped to $13.42 billion from $21.32 billion a year earlier. This was below a Refinitiv estimate of $13.89 billion, and the lower profit resulted in the divided being slashed to $0.80 a share from $1.75 the prior financial year.

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Slowing global trade will make fighting climate change harder, says BHP exec – by Alisha Hiyate (Northern Miner – July 21, 2023)

https://www.northernminer.com/

Mega-miner BHP takes a longer view than most. The Melbourne-based company, with copper, iron ore, coal and nickel mines in Australia and South America, looks at broad global trends that will shape markets for 20 years to half a century when choosing investments. Decarbonization, electrification and population growth are the trends that they’re paying attention to.

“We’re going to need more copper. We’re going to need more nickel,” says Ragg Udd, president of BHP’s (NYSE: BHP; LSE: BHP; ASX: BHP) Minerals America division. “We’re going to need more potash, and that’s where we’re trying to make strong investments into those jurisdictions working at very high ESG standards.”

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BHP and Vale square off in London court – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – July 12, 2023)

https://www.mining.com/

BHP (ASX: BHP) and Vale (NYSE: VALE) faced off in a London court on Wednesday as part of one of the largest class action lawsuits in history, which could see them fined £36 billion ($44bn) for their role in a mining disaster in Brazil that killed 19 people.

The case, brought to trial by around 720,000 Brazilians, centres on who should accept legal and financial responsibility over the deadly 2015 collapse of a dam. The incident at the iron ore mine, owned by BHP and Vale’s joint venture Samarco, became the country’s worst ever environmental disaster.

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BHP’s Xplor looking for more copper, nickel exploration projects – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – June 8, 2023)

https://www.mining.com/

BHP Xplor, an accelerator program introduced by the world’s biggest miner in August 2022 to help grow its portfolio of what it calls forward facing commodities, will launch a second round in September, which will focus on copper and nickel-related projects exclusively, the head of the initiative said.

Sonia Scarselli, BHP Xplor’s VP, said the first cohort will be gathering in Brisbane, Australia, during the last week of June for an external showcase. The event signifies the end of the six-month program that helped them to take their ideas from concept to a more defined project.

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Federal court allows international mining giant to oppose tribes in Oak Flat lawsuit – by Debra Utacia Krol (Arizona Republic – May 31, 2023)

https://www.azcentral.com/

The U.S. District Court in Arizona granted mining giant Resolution Copper permission on Monday to join the U.S. government as a defendant in a lawsuit brought by grassroots group Apache Stronghold.

The Native organization has been fighting to prevent Resolution from building a huge copper mining operation that would obliterate Oak Flat, one of the Apaches peoples’ most sacred sites. Oak Flat, or Chi’chil Biłdagoteel, “the place where the Emory oak grows,” is also culturally important to other Southwestern tribes, and is one of Arizona’s remaining riparian zones and a popular site for recreational users.

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BHP and Microsoft collaborate on AI in copper extraction – by Ashima Sharma (Mining Technology – May 30, 2023)

https://www.mining-technology.com/

BHP Group estimates the world needs to double the copper supply in the next 30 years to keep pace with green technologies.

The BHP Group and Microsoft have collaborated to improve copper recovery from the Escondida mine in Chile’s Atacama Desert.

Producing more than one million tonnes of copper in 2022, Escondida is the world’s biggest copper mine and will use using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to improve operations. Microsoft’s Azure platform will optimise concentrator performance and retrieve better ore grades. The mine is jointly owned by BHP, Rio Tinto and Japan’s JECO.

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Top Stock Fund Wagers BHP, Rio Tinto Will Weather Iron-Ore Slump – by Georgina McKay (Bloomberg News – May 17, 2023)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — A top equities fund manager is backing BHP Group Ltd. and Rio Tinto Ltd., betting they can withstand softer iron-ore prices and will benefit as China’s reopening boosts demand for the commodity.

Australian producers are attractive as they have relatively low operating costs and high exposure to the mainland, the world’s largest consumer of the steel-making ingredient, according to David Wilson, who oversees the equivalent of $5.3 billion at Australia-focused First Sentier Wholesale Geared Share Fund. The fund has returned 10% this year, beating more than 90% of its peers.

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OPINION: Will Glencore Go from Predator to Prey in Mining M&A? – by Javier Blas (Bloomberg News – April 6, 2023)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

With its offer to buy Teck, the world’s largest commodity trader may have also hung out a “for sale” sign visible to its only potential acquirer: BHP

Teck Resources Ltd.’s rejection of Glencore Plc’s $23 billion takeover bid was hardly the end of their dealmaking story. It was closer to the end of the beginning. In the next chapter’s plot twist, the buyer could very well become a seller in a transaction that reshapes the global mining industry.

By proposing to Teck that they spin off their coal assets and sell noncore businesses, Glencore’s decisionmakers knew they were doing more than configuring a new commodities giant. Unwittingly or not, they were also putting the “for sale” sign above their own company — a placard visible to the only company that has the potential interest and means to acquire them: BHP Group Ltd.

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BHP’s secret nickel clause provides Mincor termination rights – by Peter Ker (Australian Financial Review – April 5, 2023)

https://www.afr.com/

Takeover target Mincor has confirmed its nickel supply deal with BHP contains a “change of control” clause that gives BHP the right to terminate the supply contract in certain circumstances and, by extension, trigger a default on Mincor’s debt.

Confirmation the clause exists came on page 55 of the target statement published by Mincor this week in response to a $760 million takeover bid from billionaire Andrew Forrest’s private company Wyloo Metals.

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BHP open to potash partnership with Nutrien, leaves door open to new takeover attempt – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – March 14, 2023)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

BHP Group Ltd. is open to partnering with Nutrien Ltd., and isn’t ruling out making another takeover attempt of the Canadian fertilizer giant, a senior executive with the Australian miner told The Globe and Mail. “We’re happy to partner,” Rag Udd, president minerals Americas with Melbourne-based BHP, said in an interview.

“If you take a look at the majority of our businesses, there’s some form of partnership there with other companies.” When asked whether a partnership with Nutrien meant a joint venture, a takeover of the company, or both, Mr. Udd replied, “There’s a myriad of options that could be looked at.”

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BHP inks $188m contracts with First Nations at Jansen potash project in Saskatchewan – by Staff (Mining.com – March 10, 2023)

https://www.mining.com/

BHP (NYSE: BHP, ASX: BHP) announced Friday that as construction progresses at its Jansen potash project in Saskatchewan, it has awarded three new contracts in partnership with local First Nation communities.

Covering camp management, site services and raw ore/handling foundation, the contracts include representation from the six First Nations surrounding the Jansen site, with whom BHP has opportunity agreements in place.

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BHP seeks to tighten grip on South America’s copper sector – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – March 1, 2023)

https://www.mining.com/

BHP (ASX: BHP), the world’s largest miner, is hoping to expand its investments in Argentina’s copper sector, where it already has a presence through its 9.9% stake Canada’s Filo Mining (TSX: FIL), the junior developing the Filo del Sol copper-gold-silver project straddling the border with Chile.

Company representatives met with the San Juan’s governor on Tuesday to discuss possible investments in the minerals-rich province, which is recognized a safe mining destination due to the support to mining activities by both authorities and locals.

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The world’s biggest miner is ready to plant more flags in ‘highly desirable’ Canada – by Naimul Karim (Yahoo Finance/Financial Post – February 22, 2023)

https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/

A little over a year ago, Melbourne-based BHP Group Ltd., the world’s largest miner, bowed out of the highly publicized bidding war with Australian billionaire Andrew Forrest’s Wyloo Metals Pty. Ltd. for a nickel project in Ontario’s Ring of Fire region.

The tug of war between the two Australian miners over a Canadian asset included multiple bids over almost half a year before Wyloo’s $616.9-million bid in December 2021 led to the takeover of Noront Resources Ltd. — and with it the much talked about Eagle’s Nest project in northern Ontario.

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BHP brings forward Jansen Stage 2 studies – by Mariaan Webb (Mining Weekly – February 21, 2023)

https://www.miningweekly.com/

Diversified miner BHP is speeding up work at its Jansen potash mine, in Canada, as the group sees an attractive entry opportunity for supply in lower-risk jurisdictions amid increased geopolitical uncertainty.

The company, which previously bought forward first production at Jansen Stage 1 from 2027 to the end of 2026, on Tuesday confirmed that the feasibility study for Stage 2 would be completed a year earlier than previously planned.

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