BHP bolsters Oak Dam operations

BHP has significantly bolstered its Oak Dam operations, one of the most significant copper discoveries in recent history, with 12 rigs presently on site and the majority of its 150-person drilling camp now occupied. 

The miner has established an integrated copper province in the South Australia’s far north by combining the Prominent Hill and Carrapateena mines with its existing Olympic Dam mine, smelter and refinery, and the Oak Dam exploration prospect. 

The so-called “OD Deeps” program has identified extremely high grades of copper deep underneath the Olympic Dam ore body, in some instances of more than 2%, according to the miner. 

BHP asset president copper South Australia Anna Wiley says encouraging exploration data at Oak Dam is coupled with promising returns from a significant exploration drilling program beneath BHP’s existing mine at Olympic Dam. 

“BHP has created an integrated copper province that we hope will bring the scale required to economically and sustainably produce and process more copper here in SA and deliver it to global customers,” she said. 

“Our South Australian operations are performing well and we’ve had further exploration success. 

Australia is home to 13% of the world’s copper resources – second only to Chile – and South Australia hosts almost 70% of that resource.”