Will BHP's IR Loss Galvanise Aussie Business?

Big miners hope for a Chilean copper carve-out while London copper peels off

July 10, 2025

The Pre-Start

  • Triple Flag announced record quarterly revenue of US$94m on sales of 29k GEOs (TFPM.TO)

  • Fortuna produced 71koz AuEq from its 3 operating mines, while closing the sales of San Jose and Yaramoko over the quarter (FVI.TO) Up 5%

  • Black Cat increased its Paulsens tenure through tenement pegging and acquisition, while sharing surface sampling results (BC8)

  • Orezone announced Q2 results, producing 28koz over the quarter while stage 1 expansion work at Bomboré remains on track (ORE.TO) ASX IPO details below

  • Turaco shared drilling from areas adjacent to Woulo Woulo, intercepting 4m @ 82g/t from 64m (TCG)

  • Deep Yellow shared results from pilot testwork at Mulga Rock, with a revised DFS in the works (DYL)

  • K92 produced 35koz of AuEq over the quarter, while commissioning of the 1.2Mtpa stage 3 plant commenced in June (KNT.TO)

  • Aurelia achieved its FY25 production guidance, producing 45koz gold, 2.7kt copper, 17kt zinc and 16kt lead. Cash on hand rose to $110m (AMI)

  • Southern Palladium published an optimised PFS for the Bengwenyama PGM project, with an NPV8 of US$857m and IRR of 26%, with US$279 in capital required. The project would scale up from 4 years at 200kozpa to 400kozpa (SPD)

  • Jindalee signed an MoU with LiChem to test lithium refining processes on McDermitt ore (JLL)

  • American West claimed reaffirmation of Storm’s potential following drilling and geophysical work, intercepting sediment-hosted style copper at depth (AW1)

  • Aura Energy added Mauritania’s former finance minister, Ousmane Kane, to its board (AEE)

High Grade It

  • Fortescue’s head of decarbonisation is the latest high-profile departure from Andrew Forrest’s ‘green team’, as it ramps up spending on solar farms and battery-powered trucks (Australian)

  • Trump’s latest tariff shock has turbocharged a lucrative arbitrage trade in commodity markets & prompted fund managers to pile into copper stocks (AFR)

  • An indicator of copper import demand in China jumped 38%, after Trump's plans for a 50% import tariff drove down benchmark prices in London (Reuters)

  • Chile may receive a carve-out from Trump’s surprise 50% tariff on copper, boosting the fortunes of BHP & Rio (Australian)

  • Indonesia’s big bet on nickel is at risk of turning sour, as plunging prices and a supply crunch of ore force refiners to reduce output and lay off workers (FT)

  • BHP’s top exec in WA is less concerned with the financial fallout of the latest copper tariff threats than the frustration of trying to do business in an “uncertain world” (West)

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Wheelin’ n Dealin’

  • Metals X’s partial offer to acquire ~382m Greentech shares at HK$0.35 a share has been deemed fair & reasonable, with the independent board recommending that shareholders accept (MLX) MLX shares bounced 7% late yesterday

  • Kinterra inched higher on New World, buying 5m shares at 5.6c to own 19.3% (NWC)

Rattlin’ the Tin

  • Mithril announced a C$10m private placement at C$0.36 per share (MTH)

  • Peninsula Energy signed up a debt facility of up to $15m, allowing it to continue development work (PEN) Equity raise still in the works

  • Vulcan Energy shared a presentation while entering a halt to raise capital (VUL)

  • Ausgold finalised a $35m raising to advance KGP development (AUC)

  • Notices for a $65m IPO from West African gold producer Orezone have been shared, with a listing date in mid-August planned (ORE.TO)

  • Thesis Gold closed an upsized C$27.5m placement (TAU.TO)

  • GoldQuest closed a C$16m placement (GQC.TO)

Word on the Decline

  • Leo Lithium are cashed up following the settlement of Tranche 2 (cash of ~A$280m) and actively on the prowl for a “hard rock lithium asset in Aus/Americas/Europe”

  • We’ll admit, this is pure speculation, but why not throw a few names around? Locally, Mt Cattlin & Bald Hill are both for sale. Looking at North America, Winsome’s Adina is interesting

  • The timeline to re-list before a September de-listing is fast approaching, though they've guided to a Q1 FY26 announcement, so we’ll find out soon enough

  • In any case, there’s a question to be asked: Is this really what long-suffering shareholders signed up for? Or would they prefer their money back? (granted, there’ll be a vote)

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In the Weeds

  • BHP ‘same pay’ case an IR wake-up call for business (AFR editorial) What can Australian business & the govt do to get productivity on track?

  • How US buyers of critical minerals bypass China's export ban (Reuters)

  • BHP, Rio in the dark as Trump’s copper storm brews (AFR Chanticleer)

  • 4 stocks with imminent catalysts backed by L1 (Livewire) MinRes picked on Onslow ramp, governance changes

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Today’s Top Tweet

Devil’s in the Detail

We read the BBC’s dive into Chinese rare earths (“Poisoned water and scarred hills”) and it got us thinking.

The Bayan Obo district produces half the world’s rare earth supply. Setting aside China’s dominance in processing for a moment - environmental standards in the region have long fallen short, and there’s no excuse for that.

But we can’t help but think some of the criticism feels hypocritical when you consider the mine permitting hurdles in the West. If we want to lessen our reliance on regions with poor practices, the onus is on us to build better, cleaner projects and get them approved.

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