The South Australian government has kicked off the application and assessment process for BHP’s proposed expansion of its smelter and refinery at Olympic Dam.

If approved, the proposed project would see a new, second copper smelting furnace built, which would augment and expand the existing facilities at Olympic Dam.

The announcement, made through a notification in the South Australian Government Gazette on Thursday, was highlighted by BHP as a crucial step toward bolstering its copper production.

BHP is advancing a phased strategy to increase copper output at its South Australian operations, as outlined in the company’s full-year results presentation earlier this week.

“We are already growing BHP’s copper production in South Australia with projects and studies underway at all of our operating sites, and we’re moving at pace to potentially double our current production by the middle of the next decade,” said Anna Wiley, BHP asset president for copper in South Australia.

The miner aims to increase production to 500 000 t/y of refined copper cathode by the early 2030s, with potential further growth to 650 000 t/y by the mid-2030s, up from about 322 000 t in the last financial year.

BHP’s copper operations in South Australia include the Olympic Dam, Prominent Hill, and Carrapateena underground mines. These sites provide copper concentrate to the smelter and refinery complex at Olympic Dam, which produces refined copper cathode.

The company is also advancing exploration at its Oak Dam prospect, where it this week announced an inferred mineral resource of 1.34-billion tonnes at a copper grade of 0.66% and a gold grade of 0.33 g/t. This includes a higher-grade area containing 220-million tonnes at 1.96% copper and 0.68 g/t gold at a 1% copper cut-off.

A final investment decision (FID) on the first phase of the smelter and refinery expansion is expected in the first half of the 2027 financial year.

South Australian Premier Tom Koutsantonis said that the assessment process would allow for robust consultation. “It’s an opportunity for BHP to make a case for this proposal, and allowing the South Australian community to weigh up the benefits the project could bring against any economic, social and environmental impacts it could have.”

Koutsantonis said it was encouraging to see BHP planning for ongoing significant investment in South Australia.

“… as we’d expect, they’ve done a mountain of work before reaching this point and their public statements about the potential of this copper plan are significant.

“However, we’ve been down this path before, and South Australians have a right to be sceptical. Following the assessment process, BHP’s FID rests with them.”

The Premier pointed out that the proposed development came at a time when the state was ideally positioned to capitalise on a “massive opportunity” emerging in the global effort to decarbonise.

The South Australian Chamber of Mines and Energy (Sacome) welcomed BHP’s staged approach to positioning South Australia as a leading copper jurisdiction.

“South Australia was known as ‘The Copper Kingdom’ in the 1840s when copper was first discovered.  Today’s copper renaissance is crucial to our everyday lives and to our energy transition.  From electric vehicles and charging stations to mobile devices and life-saving healthcare, copper is fuelling our lives and our net-zero ambitions,” said Sacome CEO Rebecca Knol.