BHP has announced a clear pathway for future development, one that focuses on its existing formula of developing Tier-1 assets and ensuring operational discipline.
As part of his first major address since taking over the reins from outgoing chief executive officer Mike Henry, Brandon Craig framed the Big Australian’s next phase around continuity rather than reinvention.
“BHP has a clear and compelling strategy: to invest in highly attractive and durable commodities; operate world-class Tier-1 assets with excellence; offer a distinctive approach to social value; and allocate capital with discipline,” Craig said at the BofA Metals, Mining and Steel Conference 2026.
“This strategy has been very successful. Since 2020, we have delivered total shareholder returns of more than 300 per cent – around 25 percentage points higher than the average of our closest peers, and significantly above the MSCI World Materials Index.”
The comments indicate how BHP intends to position itself as the mining sector navigates shifting trade flows, geopolitical complexity and rising demand for energy transition minerals.
For BHP, the answer appears to be scale, quality and control. Craig pointed to the company’s margins, which have averaged above 50 per cent over 25 years, its strong balance sheet and more than $110 billion returned to shareholders over the past decade as evidence that its operating model is already delivering.
But the broader significance lies in what that model enables next.
“This success brings opportunities to deal with a rapidly changing world,” Craig said.
“Geopolitical complexity is increasing, trade flows are changing, and energy and resource security is front and centre…In this environment, asset quality, operating discipline and the ability to adapt matter more than ever.”
In a market where mining companies are under pressure to secure future-facing commodities while avoiding value-destructive growth, BHP said it is presenting operational excellence as the foundation for expansion.
Craig said a key pillar of BHP’s strategy is “operating Tier-1 assets with excellence”, supported by disciplined systems, world-class teams and the company’s internal operating system.
That system is designed to standardise continuous improvement across major assets, including BHP’s iron ore operations, Copper South Australia and Escondida in northern Chile.
Craig positioned copper as central to BHP’s growth profile, both through existing production and future development.
BHP is already the world’s largest copper producer, with major exposure through assets including Escondida and Copper South Australia, while the emerging Resolution Copper project in the US has progressed through a major land exchange milestone that enables further development work.
The company is targeting copper production of around 2 million tonnes per annum by 2035, supported by a pipeline of organic projects expected to deliver 3–4 per cent compound annual copper-equivalent growth.
Beyond 2035, Craig also highlighted what he described as “programmatic growth” through exploration, partnerships and selective bolt-on acquisitions.
In the wider sector, BHP’s strategy moves from just leaning into transformation M&A or speculative expansion, but also signalling a preference for staged, repeatable growth tied to operating performance and long-life assets.
Copper demand is expected to strengthen over the long term, but new supply remains difficult to bring online due to permitting delays, capital intensity and declining grades across mature mining jurisdictions.
BHP’s answer is to use its balance sheet and asset quality to move early, but selectively.
Craig summarised the ambition in one line: “My focus is to accelerate performance – more velocity, more ambition, stronger discipline.”
The leadership transition is also being supported at the board level, with BHP announcing the appointment of Mark Vassella as a non-executive director.
Vassella, the former managing director of BlueScope Steel, brings four decades of experience across large-scale industrial operations and the global steel industry.
“We are delighted to announce that Mark Vassella will join BHP. Mark has extensive experience in the global steel industry. Mark brings a strong focus on global resource development, values-based leadership and relationships with people and community,” BHP chair Ross McEwan said.
For the wider mining sector, BHP’s next growth phase will be defined less by chasing volume for its own sake, and more by whether it can convert Tier-1 assets, copper exposure and operating discipline into long-term advantage.
