BHP misses quarterly copper output estimates on Chile disruptions
2026-10-20 10:57:24 [Print]
BHP Group on Tuesday reported a sharp drop in first-quarter copper production after bad weather and a fatal accident forced temporary halts at its flagship Escondida mine in Chile.
Operations there were suspended in late September after a worker was killed in an accident during maintenance work. Production was also disrupted for several weeks at BHP's Carrapateena copper mine in South Australia after an underground conveyor belt failed.
Copper production fell 19% to 400.7 thousand metric tons (Kt) in the September quarter, missing the Visible Alpha consensus estimate of 423.6 Kt and below the 494 Kt produced a year earlier.
Quarterly iron ore output from BHP's Western Australia operations came in at 71.9 million metric tons, slightly above the 70.2 Mt produced in the same period last year. The miner is ramping up to produce 305 million tons a year by the end of fiscal 2028.
The miner increased its estimate for the Olympic Dam copper resource by 2 million tonnes, equivalent to nine years of additional production at current levels.
Operations there were suspended in late September after a worker was killed in an accident during maintenance work. Production was also disrupted for several weeks at BHP's Carrapateena copper mine in South Australia after an underground conveyor belt failed.
Copper production fell 19% to 400.7 thousand metric tons (Kt) in the September quarter, missing the Visible Alpha consensus estimate of 423.6 Kt and below the 494 Kt produced a year earlier.
Quarterly iron ore output from BHP's Western Australia operations came in at 71.9 million metric tons, slightly above the 70.2 Mt produced in the same period last year. The miner is ramping up to produce 305 million tons a year by the end of fiscal 2028.
The miner increased its estimate for the Olympic Dam copper resource by 2 million tonnes, equivalent to nine years of additional production at current levels.
