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BHP released its operational review for the year ended June 30, 2026, on Thursday July 16, reporting a second consecutive year of copper production of around 2 million tonnes and record iron ore production.
Here are 10 points most relevant to copper concentrates market participants.
BHP guided to group copper production of 1,650,000-1,800,000 tonnes for the 2027 financial year, down from 1,952,800 tonnes in FY26, which was itself 3% lower year on year.
The company said the decline would be driven primarily by lower forecast grades at Escondida in Chile.
BHP said Escondida’s concentrator feed grade is expected to decline to around 0.70% in FY27 from 0.90% in FY26, which had already fallen from 1.02% in FY25. Production guidance for FY27 was maintained at 1,000,000-1,100,000 tonnes.
The company said FY26 production was supported by record material mined, record concentrator throughput and improved recoveries, driven by operational enhancements including the introduction of new reagents.
Escondida payable copper in concentrate was 1,046,800 tonnes in FY26, down by 7%.
BHP said it sanctioned two projects at its Pampa Norte (Spence) operation in Chile in June 2026.
The Spence Concentrator Upgrade Recovery project, which upgrades the flotation circuit to increase residence time and improve concentrate recoveries, is expected to deliver first production in FY28.
The Spence Chalcopyrite Leaching project, which will use BHP’s Simple Approach to Leaching 2 sulphide-leaching technology to process hypogene ores through the cathode plant, is expected to deliver first cathode production in CY28.
Spence payable copper in concentrate fell 19% to 121,300 tonnes in FY26 on ore complexity and grade decline, part of a total copper decline of 21% to 212,600 tonnes; FY27 total copper guidance is 210,000-230,000 tonnes.
BHP said an unplanned failure of an underground conveyor belt at its Carrapateena mine in South Australia in July 2026 is expected to result in up to eight weeks of lost mine production. No one was injured, but a replacement belt would be required, the company said.
Copper South Australia production for FY27 is expected to be 290,000-320,000 tonnes, down from 320,700 tonnes in FY26, 109,300 tonnes of which was payable copper in concentrate before the Olympic Dam transfer adjustment.
BHP said it planned to increase anode inventory in FY27 to supply the refinery during a six-yearly smelter campaign maintenance scheduled for the first half of FY28.
BHP awarded a design and supply contract worth more than A$200 million (around US$130 million) to China Nerin Engineering on July 9 for key processing facilities in its proposed Olympic Dam smelter and refinery expansion in South Australia, the company said. The contract will be executed in stages as BHP works toward a potential final investment decision in CY2027.
BHP said the expansion would support growth in Copper South Australia production to 500,000 tonnes per year through the 2030s, and potentially 650,000 tonnes by the end of the decade, from around 316,000 tonnes in FY25. The province’s Olympic Dam, Prominent Hill and Carrapateena mines feed a centralized smelter and refinery at Olympic Dam.
The strategy suggests BHP will process more of its own concentrate in-house rather than sell it to third-party smelters. At the company’s half-year results briefing on February 17, then-chief executive officer Mike Henry said expanding the smelter and refinery would allow BHP to bring in material from Carrapateena and Prominent Hill “to extract more value by way of needing to transport at less distance, recover more of the by-products… and not have to pay away the upside on TC/RCs.”
BHP said the expanded smelter and refinery would be supplied with concentrate from the province’s three mines.
The prospect of additional Western smelting and refining capacity comes as spot treatment and refining charges remain at record lows.
Fastmarkets calculated the weekly copper concentrates TC index, cif Asia Pacific – the midpoint between smelter and trader buying levels – at $(166.50) per tonne on July 10, down by $4.50 per tonne, or 2.78%, from $(162.00) per tonne a week earlier.
“Does additional Western smelting capacity meaningfully loosen the concentrate market, or does it simply relocate the bottleneck?” a Latin America mining consultant said.
BHP reported an FY26 realized copper price of US$5.74 per lb, up by 35% year on year, across both concentrate and cathode sales. The realized price increased to US$6.53 per lb in the fourth quarter.
As of June 30, 2026, the group had 429,000 tonnes of outstanding copper sales revalued at a weighted average price of US$6.07 per lb, with the final price to be determined in FY27.
BHP said copper production, reported entirely as payable metal in concentrate, rose by 27% to a financial-year record of 151,500 tonnes in FY26, supported by higher feed grades and improved operational performance.
Zinc production fell to 96,127 tonnes due to lower feed grades.
Production in FY27 is expected to total 120,000-140,000 tonnes of copper and 35,000-55,000 tonnes of zinc, reflecting planned lower feed grades.
Separately, BHP announced a US$4.3 billion silver streaming agreement with Wheaton Precious Metals, a Canadian precious-metals streaming company that provides miners with an upfront payment in exchange for the right to purchase future by-product metal at a fixed price, covering BHP’s share of Antamina’s future silver production.
BHP said the Vicuña joint venture in Argentina, in partnership with Lundin Mining, received approval in June 2026 for the inclusion of the Josemaria and Filo del Sol deposits in Argentina’s Incentive Regime for Large Investments (RIGI) under the Long-Term Strategic Export Projects designation.
Vicuña was the first mining project to receive the designation, which provides fiscal certainty for 40 years, the company said.
Vicuña remains on track for a Stage 1 final investment decision in CY26, with first production from the copper-gold-silver project potentially beginning in CY30, according to the company’s February briefing.
BHP completed the divestment of its Carajás copper operation in Brazil on April 2, 2026, the company said.
The company also advanced growth options in Chile and the US, submitting an Environmental Impact Assessment in June 2026 for a potential 20-year restart of the idled Cerro Colorado operation in Chile. The project would use chloride-leaching technology to produce copper cathode, BHP said.
BHP also said Spence had signed a memorandum of understanding with Sierra Gorda SCM to explore commercial collaboration aimed at improving the efficiency and long-term competitiveness of the two adjacent Chilean operations.
The company did not disclose the scope of the proposed collaboration.
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