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Mike Henry’s long career at BHP, the world’s biggest mining company, did not rock the resources world. In his various roles – he has been CEO since 2020 – he was competent, capable and cautious, according to former employees and executives at rival companies, making him more evolutionary than revolutionary.
Today, Mr. Henry seems to be breaking form to unleash a potential revolution at BHP. A leak last week forced the company to reveal a takeover proposal for rival Anglo American that implied a value of US$39-billion. Anglo promptly rejected the bid, which can now be declared hostile, as undervalued, opportunistic and complicated.
Anglo’s thriving copper mines in Peru and Chile were the main attractions. Copper is routinely described as the “critical” metal for a low-carbon and, ultimately, net-zero future. Without copper, electric vehicles, solar panels, wind turbines, power grids and data centres for artificial intelligence would be exceedingly difficult or impossible to build. “Copper supply is under stress,” Barrick Gold CEO Mark Bristow, whose company covets copper projects, told The Globe and Mail on Thursday.
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