BHP/S32 Copper; Spence and Sierra Gorda partnership could unlock US$2-4bn in synergies

Research evidence excerpt

BHP/S32 Copper; Spence and Sierra Gorda partnership could unlock US$2-4bn in synergies

Equity Research

16 July 2026 | 6:31PM AEST

GLOBAL METALS & MINING

BHP/S32 Copper; Spence and Sierra Gorda partnership could unlock

US$2-4bn in synergies

BHP’s Spence copper mine and Sierra Gorda JV (55% KGHM/45% South32) recently Paul Young

+61(2)9321-8302 |

signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to identify and evaluate paul.young1@gs.com

Goldman Sachs Australia Pty Ltd

opportunities for technical and commercial collaboration to improve productivity

Matt Greeneand unlock value between the two adjacent copper operations in Northern Chile, +44(20)7051-0489 |

which are just 20km apart. We assessed potential synergies between the two mines matt.greene@gs.comGoldman Sachs International

and concluded that it could unlock US$2-4bn in total value through collaboration on Chris Bulgin

spare cathode and sulphide milling and mining capacity, as well as water, power, +61(2)9321-8936Goldman Sachs Australia| chris.bulgin@gs.comPty Ltd

tailings, and procurement, which we detail below and summarize in Exhibit 2.

The MoU marks a first step in their collaboration, and any potential JV would take

time to work through (commercial terms, permit amendments/approvals, etc.) and

would, in our view, take 3-5 years to realize most benefits based on likely project

analysis, development, and commercial time frames. At this stage, we do not include

any benefit in our base case, and our analysis is a scenario only.

n We estimate US$2-4bn of key potential synergies: Our assessment of the two

mines indicates there could be US$1.0-1.7bn of potential synergy value for

Spence, and US$1.1-1.9bn for Sierra Gorda (both on a 100% basis) through

collaboration on (outlined in the MOU but expanded by GS based on our