BHP Group (Australia)

What it is

BHP Group Limited (ASX/LSE/NYSE: BHP) is an Australian diversified mining company and one of the three largest mining corporations by market capitalisation globally, alongside Rio Tinto and Vale. As of mid-2026, BHP's primary commodities are copper, iron ore, and metallurgical coal, with potash as a fourth pillar under development. BHP is the world's second-largest copper producer by mined output, with a FY2026 guidance range of 1.9 to 2.0 million tonnes. Iron ore from Western Australia's Pilbara region is the company's largest single earnings contributor. BHP employs approximately 90,000 people and contractors, headquartered in Melbourne, Australia. Brendon Craig became CEO on 1 July 2026, succeeding Mike Henry.

History

BHP traces its origin to the Broken Hill Proprietary Company, founded on 13 August 1885 to mine silver, lead, and zinc at Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia. Through the 20th century the company diversified into steel and iron ore before exiting steelmaking by 2002. BHP's current form emerged from its 2001 merger with Billiton, a South African-British mining group. In 2022, BHP unified its dual-listed structure into a single Australian-domiciled entity and simultaneously merged its petroleum assets into Woodside Energy via a scrip deal. In 2024, BHP mounted a US$39 billion hostile bid for Anglo American, a London-listed diversified miner with major copper assets in Chile and Peru; Anglo American's board rejected all three approaches. BHP also suspended its Australian Nickel West operations in 2024 due to collapsed nickel prices driven by Indonesian oversupply, placing the division on care-and-maintenance.

Current state

BHP's copper portfolio as of mid-2026 centres on Escondida in Chile (BHP 57.5%), the world's largest copper mine by output; Spence in Chile (100%); and Olympic Dam in South Australia (100%), a combined copper-uranium-gold deposit processed through an integrated smelter. In H1 FY2026, Escondida and Olympic Dam together drove a company half-year copper production record, with Escondida achieving its highest concentrator throughput in 17 years. In March 2026, BHP signed a letter of intent for a 30% equity stake in Faraday Copper's Copper Creek project in Arizona, United States, a porphyry copper deposit at prefeasibility stage and BHP's first prospective North American copper position. The Jansen potash project in Saskatchewan, Canada, BHP's largest single capital commitment at US$8.4 billion (Stage 1, up 47% from the US$5.7 billion original 2021 approval), was 73% complete as of early 2026, with first production targeted for mid-2027. BHP's Pilbara iron ore operations shipped approximately 285 million tonnes in FY2025.

Relationships

BHP operates Escondida in a joint venture with Rio Tinto (30%) and JECO Corporation (12.5%), a Japanese trading-house consortium. Its metallurgical coal business, BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA), is a 50/50 joint venture with Mitsubishi Corporation, producing coking coal from Queensland, Australia. BHP's iron ore is sold predominantly to Chinese steelmakers; Chinese smelters hold long-term Escondida copper concentrate offtake agreements. A pricing dispute with China Minmetals Resources Group over treatment and refining charges was resolved in April 2026 after extended negotiations. BHP competes directly with Rio Tinto, Glencore, and Vale across diversified mining, and with Chile's state producer Codelco over global copper pricing benchmarks.

What to watch

Escondida ore grades are declining structurally; a new concentrator environmental impact assessment (DIA) in Chile is expected in H2 FY2026, with regulatory approval potentially taking years. Olympic Dam remains a candidate for a major smelter capacity expansion after a pre-feasibility study; BHP has not announced a final investment decision. Jansen Stage 1, already 47% over its original US$5.7 billion approval cost, targets mid-2027 first potash production. The failed Anglo American bid left BHP without a rapid copper reserve-addition path, and further M&A activity is widely anticipated under CEO Brendon Craig. Long-term copper demand from grid infrastructure and electric vehicles supports BHP's portfolio thesis, though structural grade depletion at existing mines constrains near-term output growth.