BHP will not expand its Olympic Dam project
The moves saves the mining giant over 2.5 bn USD.
Jackson Chen (J_C)September 28, 2026
Mining giant BHP (ASX, LON, NYSE: BHP) has put a proposed $ 2.5 billion expansion of its Olympic Dam copper, gold and uranium mine in South Australia on hold after investigations into the ore body turned out weaker than expected Results. While the mine produced more than 50,000 tonnes of copper in the three months up to September 30 - the highest quarterly production since 2015 - BHP decided against continuing the expansion project on the fallow site. "The studies have shown that the copper resources in the southern mine area are more structurally complex and the higher grade zones are less continuous than previously thought," BHP said in a statement. "We have decided that the best way to start is through targeted debottlenecking investments, plant expansions and the modernization of our infrastructure. BHP also lowered the facility's copper production forecast from 350,000 tons per year to 300,000 tons after evaluating more than 400 km of drill samples. The company said it now has "improved knowledge" of the ore body, adding that the long-term opportunities for the Olympic dam are unchanged. "Our improved understanding of the resource in the southern mining district and the encouraging results from Oak Dam provide a solid foundation for unlocking the full growth potential of this facility," said BHP. This isn't the first multi-billion dollar project on the Olympiadamm that the miner has moved away from in the past decade. In 2012 it put a long-awaited expansion of the mine on hold due to falling raw material prices and higher costs. Andrew Mackenzie, the company's chief executive at the time, even said the project needed a "technological miracle" to materialize. The world's largest miner said he will continue to explore longer-term growth options. BHP is currently in the midst of a $ 2.5 billion expansion of its Spence copper mine in Chile, due to open by the end of the year. However, Covid-related interruptions have postponed the first production date to early 2020, BHP said in April. Over the past four years, the company - which is already the world's largest publicly traded copper miner - has increased its exploration spending to find new deposits of the metal used in construction, renewable energy, and electric vehicles. Last year, BHP became the majority shareholder in Australian mining company SolGold (LON: SOLG) (TSX: SOLG), which is developing the Cascabel copper-gold project in Ecuador. The facility has the potential to become one of the largest copper-gold facilities ever discovered, with an estimated productive mine life of 55 years. That doesn't seem enough for BHP. The new CEO, Mike Henry, said in February that the company needed more "trend-setting" metals like copper. A month later, chairman Ken Mackenzie said the miner is in a strong position to make acquisitions if coronavirus opportunities arise. "I'm not sure that there will be any opportunities out of that, but if there are, we are actually able to act," said Mackenzie. The company has five major projects in the works with a total budget of $ 10.9 billion. One of BHP's other growth projects, the Jansen Potash Project in Saskatchewan, Canada, remains on track for a final investment decision in mid-2021, BHP said. "As a result of the challenges we previously encountered with the manhole lining placement, and then the more recent impact of our Covid-19 response plan, the board has approved an additional $ 272 million in funding to complete the manholes, leading to leads to a total budget of $ 3 billion (previously $ 2.7 billion), "he said. Once the foundation work at Jansen is complete, BHP will decide whether to spend an additional $ 5.3 to 5.7 billion to build the first stage of the mine. This process would take about five years. The company also said its $ 3.06 billion South Flank iron ore project in the Pilbara remains on track for initial production, despite consultations with traditional owners ongoing after the Juukan Gorge blast in Rio Tinto Is in mid-2021.
