BHP, which operates the world’s biggest copper mine in Chile, has dangled $10 billion to develop more resources in the country if those uncertainties are finally resolved.
China’s rapid build-up of clean energy is claiming more copper, supporting the market at a time when traditional sources of demand like housing are in the dumps.
A proposed pipeline of coal mine projects in Australia, the world’s second-biggest exporter of the fuel, are threatening to lock in decades of new carbon emissions.
Key among those challenges as the world’s largest oil producer seeks to unlock an estimated $1.3 trillion in mineral wealth are logistics and water supplies.