BHP Billiton: the annual output of the Spence copper mine expansion project in Chile can reach 300000 tons four years before it is put into production.

SMM8, March 19: BHP (BHP) expects the Spence copper expansion project in northern Chile, (Spence Growth Option), to reach an annual production capacity of 300000 tons in the first four years of production and is expected to start production between December 2020 and March 2021.

Affected by the epidemic, this time is later than originally scheduled for July-December this year. But the project's budget of $2.46 billion was not affected.

The SGO project will extend the life of the Spence copper mine by more than 50 years, with an additional 185000 tonnes of copper production per year during the first 10 years of operation.

In addition, copper production at BHP's Escondida mine in Chile is expected to reach an average of 1.2 million tons per year over the next five years, which will continue to support the group's overall production.

At the same time, the company expects excess inventory at the Olympic Dam copper mine in Australia to decline between 2020 and 2021, and refinery maintenance will be concentrated between 2021 and 2022.

According to BHP's annual report for fiscal 2020, the group's distributable profit was nearly $8 billion, down 4 per cent from a year earlier, operating cash flow was $15.7 billion, down 12 per cent from a year earlier, and distributable profits for the current period were $9.06 billion, down 1 per cent from a year earlier.

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