BHP’s Potash Blowout Overshadows Australia Iron Ore Record

BHP Group, the world’s largest miner, has again blown past cost estimates for its key Jansen potash project in Canada, raising projected investment in the first phase to $8.4 billion — $1 billion above the upper range of an already revised budget announced last year.

Cost and schedule overruns on large projects are not unusual in the sector, but potash — a key plank of BHP’s strategy as all miners scramble for growth — was approved in August 2021 at $5.7 billion. First production is now expected in the middle of 2027, though a second stage of development is still under review.