An Expansion of BHP's Escondida Copper Mine Makes Sense -- Market Talk
12 September 2023 - 9:55AM
Dow Jones News
2315 GMT [Dow Jones]--The economics of an expansion of BHP's
majority-owned Escondida copper mine in Chile "are compelling," and
the miner would benefit from forging ahead with an expansion of
both concentrator and heap leach capacity, Goldman Sachs analysts
Paul Young and Caleb Heiner say in a note. An expansion of the
mining operation, part owned by Rio Tinto, could cost about $8
billion, but it could also increase copper output by roughly 20%
and keep volumes above 1 million metric tons annually to 2035, the
analysts say. Project returns could be around 20%, they add. Young
and Heiner say that while they already include an expansion at
Escondida in their base case estimates for BHP and Rio Tinto,
Visible Alpha data seem to suggest it isn't baked into consensus
forecasts. (rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 11, 2023 19:40 ET (23:40 GMT)
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