“Mundoro welcomes BHP as an exploration partner that recognises the potential of further exploration in the western Tethyan Belt,” Mundoro chief executive Teo Dechev said.
Top mining companies across the world,including BHP and rival Rio Tinto,have been ramping up efforts to diversify into so-called “future-facing” commodities,those standing to benefit from global trends towards decarbonisation.
BHP,which derives most of its earnings from the steel-making material iron ore,is targeting growth in copper and nickel,two minerals the world needs much more of in coming years as countries race to electrify transport and hit “net-zero” emissions targets. Electric cars consume up to four times as much copper as internal combustion-engine vehicles,BHP says,while nickel is a necessary ingredient in lithium-ion batteries.
Loading
Last month,BHP signed a binding $9.6 billion takeover offerto acquire Adelaide-based copper and nickel producer Oz Minerals,which has two copper and gold mines in South Australia,located either side of BHP’s vast Olympic Dam mining hub.
The Oz Minerals deal,if it succeeds,will mark BHP’s biggest acquisition since it paid $US12 billion for US shale gas producer Petrohawk in 2011.
BHP last year sold off its global oil and gas division,partly to free up its ability to spend on more copper and nickel. However,the company remains a significant producer of carbon-intensive fossil fuels with several coal mines across Australia,most of which produce coking coal for the steel-making sector.