BHP will further diversify its portfolio with a $US4.9 billion ($7.6 billion) investment in stage two of the Jansen potash project in Saskatchewan, Canada.
Potash is a potassium-rich salt used to improve agricultural production, increasing crop yields, water efficiency, and pest and disease resistance.
The new round of funding follows a stage one investment of $US4.5 billion ($6.3 billion) in 2021.
BHP chief executive officer Mike Henry said Jansen, which will see first production in 2026, will position BHP as a leader in the global potash industry.
“The stage two investment advances BHP’s strategy to increase its exposure to commodities positively leveraged to the global megatrends of population growth, urbanisation, rising living standards and decarbonisation,” Henry said.
“Today’s additional investment will transform Jansen into one of the world’s largest potash mines, doubling production capacity to approximately 8.5 million tonnes per annum.”
In Australia, BCI Minerals became the latest potash hopeful to receive a funding boost from the Australian Government back in August.
BCI secured $650 million in debt funding to finance its $1.629 billion Mardie project, located alongside the Pilbara coast in WA.
According to BCI, the Mardie project will be the first major salt project developed in Australia in two decades and the only Australian operation to produce commercially saleable salt.
Potash has a spotted history in Australia, with two major projects proving unsuccessful.
Potash hopeful Kalium Lakes, which had secured $72.6 million in funding from the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF), went into administration earlier this year.
This was preceded by the 2021 collapse of the ASX-listed Salt Lake Potash, which happened despite $US47 million ($73 million) in Government funding.
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