BHP Announces 10.73 Billion Tonnes of Copper Resources in Australia

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 20, Australia's BHP Group announced the latest resource assessment results for the Olympic Dam copper-uranium-gold-silver deposit in South Australia, reporting for the first time a standalone mineral resource of 10.73 billion tonnes suitable for underground caving mining methods, with an average copper grade of 0.59%, along with uranium, gold and silver mineralization. The company plans to increase annual copper production from its South Australian copper business from 321,000 tonnes in fiscal year 2026 to approximately 500,000 tonnes by 2035, with a long-term target of up to 650,000 tonnes by 2040.

The underground caving mining resource reported this time has an average uranium oxide (U3O8) grade of 0.19 kg/t, a gold grade of 0.21 g/t and a silver grade of 1 g/t. The resource assessment used a cut-off grade of approximately 0.35% copper and incorporated underground continuous mineralized bodies. The existing sublevel open stoping resource at Olympic Dam is 1.59 billion tonnes with an average copper grade of 1.56%. BHP will continue to include high-grade ore bodies in selective underground mining plans and conduct caving mining studies on large-scale low-grade ore bodies.

According to the technical report disclosed by the company during the same period, the resource model for the Olympic Dam deposit used data from approximately 17,557 diamond drill holes, with cumulative drilling of approximately 4.66 million meters. The mineralized body extends approximately 6 kilometers in length and 3 kilometers in width on plan, typically extending to 900 meters underground and locally exceeding 2,000 meters. The underground caving mining option within the newly reported resources remains at the study stage and has not yet been converted into ore reserves.

BHP's South Australian copper business also includes the Carrapateena and Prominent Hill mines. Carrapateena is advancing an underground caving expansion, with production ramp-up planned to begin in fiscal year 2030; pre-feasibility studies are underway for the expansion of the Olympic Dam smelter and refinery, involving phased expansion of mining, ore processing and smelting facilities. BHP plans to announce further development arrangements at a site visit in November 2026.