BHP’s Olympic Dam mine halted after storm hits

BHP (NYSE: BHP; LSE: BHP; ASX: BHP) was forced to halt operations at its Olympic Dam copper-gold mine on Friday after severe electrical storms damaged critical transmission infrastructure in northern South Australia, local media reported. 

The storms, which lashed the region with wind speeds exceeding 130 km per hour and over 130,000 lightning strikes within 24 hours, severely impacted power supplies to the mine.

South Australian Energy Minister, Tom Koutsantonis, spoke to Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), confirming that the Olympic Dam had been significantly affected. 

The authority explained that while BHP has managed to maintain essential power through backup systems, mining operations will remain shut down for about seven days. 

The reason for the halt is primarily due to ventilation concerns within the mine, a critical factor for maintaining air quality and preventing the accumulation of harmful gases that could potentially lead to fires or explosions.

BHP is now assessing the full extent of the damage and evaluating the timeframe needed to resume normal production at the mine, which is Australia’s second-largest copper operation. A spokesperson confirmed to The Northern Miner’s sister publication MINING.COM that the mine’s surface operations have been switched to minimal maintenance mode, with on-site backup generators providing necessary power.

This disruption comes as a reminder of a similar event in 2016, when a statewide blackout caused by a storm kept the Olympic Dam idled for two weeks, reducing daily copper output by 567 tonnes. 

The giant mine, located 560 km north of Adelaide, is a critical asset for BHP as it generates significant quantities of copper, uranium and gold.

The mining giant’s copper production from Olympic Dam in the 2024 fiscal year was reported at 322,000 tonnes. BHP aims to ramp up production in South Australia to 500,000 tonnes annually by the early 2030s, with a potential future increase to 650,000 tonnes by the mid-2030s.

The company is contemplating an expansion of the mine’s copper smelter and refinery, with a final investment decision expected in 2027.