BHP to Spend $554 Million to Boost Australian Copper Output

BHP Group will spend A$840 million ($554 million) to bolster its Olympic Dam underground copper project in South Australia, as it seeks to ramp up production of the key electrical wiring metal.

The investment will see a new tunnel built to access copper in the Southern Area of the mine, along with infrastructure to expand and streamline ore processing, the world’s biggest miner said in a statement Wednesday. It will also construct a new oxygen plant at its smelter.