BHP’s Copper, Iron Ore Output Hits Record, Canadian Potash Bet Proves Costly

BHP Group (BHP) stock was in focus in the early hours of Friday as the company flagged higher costs at its upcoming Canadian fertilizer project, after posting record copper and iron ore output in the fiscal year.

The largest mining firm in the world has been seeking to diversify beyond its core copper and iron ore mining operations into potash mining. It has been developing the Jansen project in Canada for a decade.

The company said on Thursday that it expects to spend $7 billion and $7.4 billion for the first phase of the project, compared with initial expectations of $5.7 billion. It reverted to the original mid-2027 target for first production from the project, compared with the accelerated target of end-2026.

The company will also likely delay the start of operations at stage 2 of the project till 2031.

“Given potential for additional potash supply coming to market in the medium term, and as part of our regular review of the sequencing of capital projects under the capital allocation framework, we are considering a two-year extension for the execution of Jansen Stage 2,” BHP said.

The company had heavily invested in the project, believing that potash prices would stay elevated due to the conflict in Ukraine. However, millions of tons of potash are still making their way out of Russia and Belarus, which has eased supply woes.

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits about BHP was in the ‘bearish’ territory at the time of writing.

The company's iron ore output totaled 70.3 million tons for the quarter ended June 30, increasing its total production for the fiscal year to 263 million tons.

Copper production reached a record high of 2.02 million tons for the fiscal year. However, BHP expects it to decline to a range of 1.8 million tons to 2 million tons in fiscal 2026, due to planned lower grades at its Escondida mine in Chile, which is the largest copper project in the world.

BHP’s U.S.-listed shares have gained 5% this year.

Also See: Talen Energy Stock Soars After-Hours On $3.5B Purchase Of Gas-Fired Power Plants Eyeing AI Demand

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