BHP – expansion of Special Mining Lease at Olympic Dam, SA

The parties to this acquisition are BHP Olympic Dam Corporation Pty Ltd, which is ultimately 100% owned by BHP Group Limited (BHP), and the State of South Australia.

BHP is an Australian headquartered natural resources company. BHP is a global leading producer of iron ore, copper and metallurgical coal. Relevantly, BHP operates the Olympic Dam Mine in South Australia, which is one of most significant global mineral deposits.

The State of South Australia, through the Department of Energy and Mining, is responsible for regulating mining rights in South Australia and owns/manages the underlying legal rights to the minerals. It does not compete with BHP in relation to the extraction or supply of any of the minerals extracted from the Olympic Dam precinct.

BHP proposes to acquire mining rights over an additional area of land located in Olympic Dam, South Australia from the State of South Australia. The additional area (SML1 Additional Area) is adjacent to BHP’s existing ‘Special Mining Lease 1’ (SML1) at Olympic Dam.

The acquisition, by way of expansion of the area of existing SML1, is for the purpose of a proposal by BHP to increase mining activity and potentially expand the existing mineral processing facilities at Olympic Dam. The acquisition also provides BHP with additional non-proprietary rights in relation to its operations on SML1.

The main mineral mined at Olympic Dam is copper, with gold, silver and uranium as by-products.