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BHP Weighs Boosting A$8.4 Billion Bid for OZ Minerals – by Thomas Biesheuvel, Dinesh Nair and Vinicy Chan (Bloomberg News – September 16, 2022)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — BHP Group Ltd. is considering raising its A$8.4 billion ($5.6 billion) offer for OZ Minerals Ltd., people familiar with the matter said, as the world’s top miner seeks to boost its exposure to metals needed for the green-energy transition.

Melbourne-based BHP may increase its A$25 per share bid for OZ Minerals as soon as this month, the people said, asking not to be identified as the matter is private. It wasn’t immediately clear by how much BHP would increase its offer, or whether OZ Minerals would agree to any renewed proposal from BHP.

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BHP signals it is willing to walk away from bid for OZ Minerals – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – August 16, 2022)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

BHP Group Ltd., the world’s biggest mining company by market value, appears willing to walk away from its latest major takeover proposal. After the release of the miner’s quarterly earnings Tuesday, BHP chief executive Mike Henry said in a call with media that OZ Minerals Ltd. would be “nice to have” but is not a “must have.”

Earlier this month, Melbourne-based BHP proposed a US$5.8-billion takeover of its fellow Australian copper and nickel producer. While the offer was 30 per cent above OZ’s market price, it was well below its peak share price, reflecting the sharp sell-off across the mining sector over the past few months. OZ Minerals rejected the offer, calling it “highly opportunistic.”

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BHP Hits Profit Record And Sees Demand Healing in China – by James Fernyhough (Bloomberg/Yahoo Finance – August 2022)

https://www.yahoo.com/

(Bloomberg) — BHP Group, the world’s biggest miner, posted its highest ever full-year profit on record commodity prices, and will push ahead with growth options on a stronger demand outlook in China.

The producer will study plans to expand its top-earning iron ore unit to 330 million tons of production a year, and is continuing to assess options to lift volumes in copper and nickel, Melbourne-based BHP said Tuesday in a statement. A giant new potash mine in Canada remains on track to begin out in 2026.

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BHP’s OZ Bid Could Signal a New Dawn for Mining M&A – by Megha Mandavia (Wall Street Journal – August 9, 2022)

https://www.wsj.com/

Australian mining giant BHP Group has been given the cold shoulder by copper miner OZ Minerals Ltd. Markets don’t think that is the end of the story: The world’s most valuable miner may well return with a higher offer. If it does, it will mark the giant’s return to megadeal making—and perhaps signal a turning point for deal activity in mining more broadly.

OZ is playing hard to get, and possibly for good reason. On Monday the company rejected a $5.8 billion takeover offer by BHP, saying it was too low and opportunistic. Prices of copper on the London Metal Exchange are trading around $7,834 per metric ton, down about 20% since the end of last year. Before BHP’s offer, that had punished OZ’s stock too.

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Diggers and Dealers: BHP tips EVs will send nickel demand up to 300% higher in the next 30 years – by Josh Chiat (Stockhead.com.au – August 2022)

https://stockhead.com.au/

EVs are here to stay, and the world’s biggest miner says it’s going to spur a run for nickel demand well beyond anything seen before.

Following on from IEA figures last week, which show we could need a ludicrous 60 new nickel mines by 2030 to achieve announced carbon reduction pledges, BHP’s Nickel West boss Jessica Farrell told delegates at the Diggers and Dealers Mining Forum in Kalgoorlie demand for nickel to 2050 would increase 200-300% on the previous three decades.

Mind-boggling. No wonder BHP has decided to reinvigorate the division which almost closed down a few years ago when stainless steel demand fell off a cliff and tanked prices.

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BHP rebuffed in $5.8 billion takeover bid for OZ Minerals – by Praveen Menon and Shashwat Awasthi (Reuters – August 8, 2022)

https://www.reuters.com/

Aug 8 (Reuters) – BHP Group (BHP.AX) was rebuffed in its A$8.34 billion ($5.8 billion) takeover bid for OZ Minerals (OZL.AX) on Monday, in a setback as it pushes to secure copper and nickel assets for a shift into clean energy and the electric vehicles (EVs) market.

Australia’s OZ Minerals said the A$25 per share unsolicited, conditional and non-binding indicative offer undervalued the nickel and copper miner and was “opportunistic” as it comes when copper prices and its stock price have fallen from recent peaks.

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BHP accelerates work on its Saskatchewan potash mine as prices soar – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – July 19, 2022)

https://financialpost.com/

Mining giant aims to start production year early in 2026

BHP Group Ltd. has gone from lukewarm to hot on its Jansen potash mine in Saskatchewan, announcing Tuesday that it is working to accelerate first production by a year to 2026, and that it intends to speed up future expansions as potash prices continue to soar.

The Australian mining giant also reported in its year-end operational review that work on Jansen’s shaft, which already runs one-kilometre deep, was completed in June at a total cost of US$2.97 billion.

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BHP loses appeal to multibillion lawsuit over Samarco disaster – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – July 8, 2022)

https://www.mining.com/

BHP (ASX: BHP) said on Friday it had lost an appeal in a London court seeking to block an over £5 billion ($6bn-plus) lawsuit by 200,000 Brazilians over a deadly dam failure in Brazil seven years ago.

The group claim, one of the largest in British legal history, alleged that BHP, the world’s largest miner by market value, ignored safety warnings as the dam’s capacity was repeatedly increased by raising its height – and disregarded cracks that pointed to early signs of rupture.

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BHP pivots toward ‘future-facing’ commodities with Saskatchewan potash project – by Andrew Willis (Globe and Mail – June 20, 2022)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

In building the world’s largest potash mine in Saskatchewan, BHP CEO Mike Henry looks to heal old wounds and pivot the global giant away from oil and gas

Chief Bryon Bitternose was driving north across the Saskatchewan prairie this week toward two white towers that pierce the landscape – twin elevator shafts that mark the site of what will soon be the world’s largest potash mine. He took a phone call and started laughing.

The source of his amusement? Being asked to sketch the George Gordon First Nation’s history with Melbourne-based global commodities giant BHP Group Ltd. BHP-N, owner of the Jansen mine taking shape near his reserve. Mr. Bitternose chuckled as he said, “The relationship didn’t start real well. We first met in court.”

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BHP Scraps Immediate Thermal-Coal Exit – by Rhiannon Hoyle (Wall Street Journal – June 16, 2022)

https://www.wsj.com/

Mining company fails to find buyer for Mt Arthur mine, one of Australia’s biggest coal operations

ADELAIDE, Australia—The world’s largest mining company abandoned the sale of its last thermal-coal mine, and said it would aim to close the Australian pit in 2030.

Despite record-high coal prices, BHP Group Ltd. said it failed to find a buyer for the Mt Arthur mine, which is one of Australia’s biggest coal operations but is technically complex and will have a large cleanup bill when it closes.

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Feds give up to $100 million to BHP to reduce emissions at Jansen potash mine – by Zak Vescera (Saskatoon Star Phoenix – June 13, 2022)

https://thestarphoenix.com/

The company claims the Saskatchewan mine will be the biggest and most sustainable in the world when it starts production in 2026.

The Canadian government will partner with Australian mining giant BHP Group Ltd. on a Saskatchewan mega-project they claim will be the biggest and most environmentally sustainable potash mine in the world.

Federal minister François-Philippe Champagne says Canada will give up to $100 million to BHP to cut emissions, reduce water use and diversify hiring at its Jansen project, a long-awaited mine about 140 kilometres east of Saskatoon that officials say will create thousands of jobs and further Saskatchewan’s position as a potash producer at a time of soaring global demand for the vital fertilizer ingredient.

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Canada Nickel Bid Is ‘Tip of the Iceberg’ of BHP Growth Ambition – by James Attwood (Yahoo/Finance – Bloomberg – May 5, 2022)

https://finance.yahoo.com/

(Bloomberg) — BHP Group’s unsuccessful attempt to buy a junior Canadian nickel miner last year should be seen as “almost the tip of the iceberg” for its ambitions in the resource-rich country, says one of the company’s top executives.

The world’s biggest mining company sees nickel as one of three “future-facing commodities” — along with copper and potash — and has set up its exploration and business development team in Canada, partly to scour for opportunities in Ontario’s highly prospective Ring of Fire region.

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BHP President, Minerals Americas Rag Udd Speech – (Economic Club of Canada – May 2, 2022)

Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today. As a proud Canadian myself, it is great to be back in Canada visiting the teams in Saskatchewan and Toronto.

Today, I am going to focus on three key points:

  • The exciting period of development ahead for the resources industry;
  • The opportunities Canada has to benefit from this development; and
  • Our plans for investment in Canada, and in particular our new Potash investment in Saskatchewan

And you will have to forgive me, but as a Canadian mining engineer who has worked all over the world with different commodities, I have been accused of being overly enthusiastic about Jansen and potash – so I have asked the organisers to keep me crisp on timing so we have plenty of time for questions.

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Chile sues BHP, Albemarle, Antofagasta over water use – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – April 8, 2022)

https://www.mining.com/

The Chilean government of ecologist and feminist President Gabriel Boric is suing mines operated by giants BHP (ASX: BHP), Albemarle (NYSE: ALB) and Antofagasta (LON: ANTO) alleged environmental damage caused in the northern Salar de Atacama salt flats, the world’s driest place on earth.

The State Defense Council’s (CDE) legal action singles out BHP’s Escondida, the world’s largest copper mine, Antofagasta and Barrick’s 50-50 Zaldívar operation and Albemarle’s lithium assets.

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Miners Are Scouring the Earth Again as Reserves Dwindle – by David Fickling (Washington Post/Bloomberg – February 16, 2022)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/

Think your life has been unadventurous over the past few years, as the pandemic and closed borders have kept you bottled up at home? Spare a thought for the mining sector.

An industry built on the romance and horror of finding riches on the wild frontier — from the Klondike to Kimberley, Kolyma and Katanga — has for years barely needed to get out its passport.

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