MINING giant BHP has published half year results which show strong production gains in its copper mining business and consistent growth in its iron ore segment.

The Australian company announced an increase in its copper production of 10% in the first half of the 2024/2025 financial year (which began on July 1, 2024).

The majority of the 987,000 tonnes produced came from BHP’s Escondida site in Chile, which yielded 644,000 tonnes, a 10-year high.

Production gains at the world’s biggest copper mine (of which BHP owns 57.7%) was largely put down to mining higher-grade copper ore.

At BHP’s other major copper mines, the picture was not so rosy. Production at Pampa Norte (also in Chile) declined 9% in the first half of the year compared to the same period last year, largely down to maintenance at the Cerro Colorado mine. BHP’s Copper South Australia site also registered a decline in production of 6%, largely down to a weather-related power outage at the beginning of the second quarter.

In terms of iron ore, growth was not as eye-catching, but equally consistent. Overall iron ore production from BHP grew 1% in the first half of 2024/2025 compared to last year.

Its Western Australia Iron Ore system of mines produced 128m tonnes of the 130.9m tonnes produced in total by BHP sites in the first half of 2024/2025. That’s also a growth of 1%, which BHP was a result of record volumes delivered from its Central Pilbara Hub following the ramp up of its South Flank mine, Australia’s largest new mine for 50 years.

Iron ore production guidance remained at 255m-265.5m tonnes. Anything in the upper realms of that prediction would once again break the company’s production record, which was broken in 2023/24 when 260m tonnes of ore left BHP mines.

Chief executive Mike Henry said his company was “well positioned to continue strong momentum into the second half with a number of assets now expected to deliver production in the upper half of their respective ranges”.