BHP misses quarterly copper output estimates on Chile disruptions

By Reuters News
FILE PHOTO: A BHP Group logo is displayed on their building in Adelaide, Australia, September 18, 2025. REUTERS/Hollie Adams/File Photo

Oct 20 (Reuters) - BHP Group BHP.AX on Tuesday reported a 19% drop in first-quarter copper production, missing analyst expectations, hurt by poor weather and a fatality that temporarily halted operations at its flagship Escondida mine in Chile.

Output from BHP's Escondida, the world's largest copper mine, slipped 23% to 252.6 thousand metric tons in the three months ended September 30.

Operations were suspended in late September after a worker was killed in an accident while carrying out maintenance work.

Its Carrapateena mine, which produces copper concentrate, in South Australia also faced a failure of an underground conveyor belt, which impacted production for several weeks during the quarter.

As a result, copper output slipped to 400.7 Kt in the September quarter, missing the Visible Alpha consensus estimate of 423.6 Kt, and lower than 494 Kt produced last year.

Quarterly iron ore output from BHP's Western Australia operations on a 100% basis came in at 71.9 million metric tons, slightly above 70.2 Mt produced in the same period last year.

The miner said its full-year guidance remained unchanged across all operations.

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