It appears BHP is starting to see the light and realise they better hurry to get involved with the DRC before they miss out. Already openly seeking copper exposure there and no doubt will be casting a very keen eye at Li and the world’s largest hard rock deposit given there vocal intentions to pivot from fossil fuels to battery metals.
Exciting times ahead.
AIMHO
p.s. hmm … who was it I heard yesterday say that BHP was sniffing around in the DRC?
BHP in talks with Ivanhoe Mines to acquire DRC copper project
05 Oct 2021 (Last Updated November 10th, 2021 04:09)
The Western Foreland exploration area neighbours the Ivanhoe Mines Kamoa-Kakula project in the DRC copper belt.
BHP expects the value of copper to increase due to surging demand. Credit: Ashton 29 / commons.wikimedia.org.
BHP Group is reportedly in early talks with Ivanhoe Mines to acquire part of the
Western Foreland exploration area in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The exploration territory neighbours Ivanhoe’s Kamoa-Kakula Mining licence,
which commenced production earlier this year.
If the deal on the copper project materialises, it would be a shift from BHP’s marked policy of avoiding risky regions, reported Bloomberg.
Citing people familiar with the matter, the news agency reported that there is no guarantee a deal will be signed between the two parties.
According to the undisclosed sources, other mining companies are also interested in the
Ivanhoe Mines project.
Last year,
Ivanhoe Mines said it was holding strategic talks for its Western Forelands project as well as its Platreef project in South Africa’s Bushveld Complex.
In 2019, BHP divested its rights to develop an iron ore deposit in Guinea to Friedland, as it wanted to focus on its assets in Canada, Chile and Australia.
In recent years BHP has been seen to be focusing on more developed countries. However, in the 18-month tenure of its CEO Mike Henry, the company’s stance reportedly seems to have softened towards risky jurisdictions in order to tap the best mineral deposits. One example of this is the move to increase its stake in Ecuadorian copper mine developer SolGold.
