Jonathan Price is the second major exit announced this week and is part of BHP’s strategy to shift certain responsibilities away from the executive team.
The support from controlling shareholder Jiangxi Copper Corp comes after the state-run company said this week it would pay $1.1 billion for an 18% stake in Canadian miner First Quantum Minerals.
Panguna has an estimated 5.3 million tones of copper and 19.3 million ounces of gold, which would make the reserves worth about $60 billion at today’s prices.