BHP gears up for copper boom

BHP is readying itself for a copper boom, with chief executive officer Mike Henry outlining the company’s aggressive expansion strategy at the BMO Global Metals, Mining & Critical Minerals Conference.

“We expect global copper demand to be over 50 million tonnes a year by 2050, more than 70 per cent higher than 2021 levels,” Henry said. “And there’s just not enough production yet being developed to supply it.”

BHP is taking steps to bridge this supply gap, with the company’s copper production growing 10 per cent over the past year, with a projected 24 per cent increase by June 2025.

Central to this growth are significant projects in Chile and South Australia.

Henry said BHP is the world’s largest copper producer and has the world’s largest copper resource, totalling 44 billion tonnes at 0.59 per cent copper.

BHP produces copper from its South Australian business, including the Olympic Dam, Prominent Hill and Carrapateena mines. The company is also a prominent producer in Chile through its Escondida and Pampa Norte operations and is looking to kickstart more growth in the country.

“In Chile, projects like an expansion of the Laguna Seca concentrator and a new concentrator at Escondida are expected to support annual copper production of 1.4 million tonnes, on average, through the 2030s,” Henry said.

“That’s half a million tonnes per year more than if we did not invest.”

Additionally, BHP’s Copper South Australia business is expected to double its output from the early to mid-2030s, adding approximately 300,000 tonnes of annual production.

With these investments, the company envisions an “aspirational pathway” to over two million tonnes of copper production per year.

Beyond organic growth, BHP is also expanding through strategic partnerships.

BHP is exploring new jurisdictions, including through the new Vicuña joint venture (JV) with Lundin Mining in Argentina. Henry said Vicuña could become one of the top 10 copper producers globally through the Filo del Sol and Josemaria projects.

The companies completed the acquisition of Filo Corp, who owns Filo del Sol, in January 2025. BHP paid Lundin Mining $US690 million to form a 50:50 arrangement at the Josemaria project.