BHP, South32 and Faraday: Top 5 Mining Stories This Week
Incoming BHP CEO, Brandon Craig, has made significant changes to the executive leadership structure before even taking the helm, most notably splitting the current President Americas role into two.
Ahead of Brandon's July 1 start, BHP announced the creation of President North America and President South America roles, saying the move will allow a greater focus on each region.
Jessica Farrell will step into the President North America position on July 1. She is currently the vice-president of innovation and previously served as Western Australia Nickel Asset President, with more than 20 years of experience in commodities and jurisdictions at BHP.
South32 has signed a binding conditional agreement to sell its aluminium assets to Alcoa in a deal worth up to US$5.6bn, according to the company. Alcoa will also assume rehabilitation provisions of approximately US$1.2bn tied to the assets.
The deal was announced on 1 July 2026, the same day Matt Daley began as Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of South32.
In the deal, Alcoa will acquire South32's interests in Worsley Alumina (86%), Hillside Aluminium (100%), the MRN bauxite mine (33%), the Brazil Alumina refinery (36%) and the Brazil Aluminium smelter (40%).
Canada and Japan are discussing the possibility of joint stockpiling of critical minerals, as well as other measures, in a move to loosen their dependence on China supply chains.
Among the metals being discussed are graphite and gallium, both of which are used extensively by the defence industry. Heat-resistant graphite is critical to the manufacturing of rocket nozzles and missile nose cones, while gallium is used to make “wide bandgap" semiconductors.
Canada’s International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu confirmed the talks during a trade mission to Tokyo, where Canadian and Japanese companies signed more than CA$1bn (US$705m) in commercial deals.
BHP has submitted plans to reopen its Cerro Colorado copper mine in the Tarapacá Region of Chile, filing an Environmental Impact Study with the Servicio de Evaluación Ambiental (SEA).
The study is wordily titled "Operational Extension of the Cerro Colorado Mining Operation through the Improvement and Expansion of Mining Facilities and Implementation of a New Water Supply System," or CCLE for short.
Melbourne-based BHP is proposing an investment of around US$1.5bn to reopen the mine, and extend its operational life by 20 years. The company expects the project to generate approximately 1,500 jobs during construction, and more than 3,000 during ongoing operations.
Faraday Copper has agreed to acquire BHP's San Manuel site in Arizona, next to Faraday's own Copper Creek project, according to the company. The deal will create a combined copper district across both sites.
In the deal, Faraday will issue BHP shares equivalent to a 30% interest in the company on a fully diluted basis as consideration. This includes shares acquired through a CA$100m (US$70.5m) private placement made in March 2026.
BHP is expected to hold approximately 138 million common shares once the transaction closes.
