BHP considered separation of iron ore, coal: Reuters

me-metals: BHP Group (ASX: BHP), the world’s largest mining company, reportedly mulled spinning off its iron ore and coal businesses as part of its medium-term growth strategy.According to me-metals cited from mining.com,

According to me-metals cited from mining.com, According to sources cited by Reuters, the potential separation coincided with BHP’s strategy to become a “greener” miner by placing priority on “future-facing” commodities such as potash and copper. This would mean distancing itself from iron ore and coal, both key raw materials in steelmaking and which have been core to its business for decades.

BHP is currently the world’s third-largest producer of iron ore, operating five mines in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It is also a major producer of metallurgical coal, with five mines in the Bowen Basin area of Central Queensland.

Divesting its iron ore and coal assets would significantly reduce the group’s presence in Australia, where it is based. The units would most likely be listed in Australia, should BHP chooses to proceed, Reuters sources said.

BHP would still keep its Australian copper assets such as Olympic Dam, host to one of the world’s largest copper deposits, as it continues to push towards becoming a global leader in the red metal’s production. Its copper ambitions were evident in the failed bid to acquire rival Anglo American (LON: AAL) a year ago.

This is not the first time that BHP’s management has brought up the idea of restructuring the business. Chief executive officer Mike Henry and then chief financial officer David Lamont discussed with investors in early 2024 the plan to separate its declining growth businesses towards the end of the decade.

Ultimately, they dropped such plans as BHP still needed the cash generated by the two Australian divisions to fund capital spending at the Escondida copper complex in Chile and its Jansen potash mine in Canada.

The company has also shown that it would not hesitate to spin out businesses, having already done it with South32 (ASX: S32) a decade ago.

BHP’s view was a spin-off of iron ore and coal would generate cash and franking credits that benefit Australian tax-payers, meaning there could be considerable Australian interest in any flotation, one of the Reuters sources said.

source: mining.com

iron ore coal BHP Australia