BHP has committed three of its copper operations in Chile and Australia to the Copper Mark Responsible Production Framework programme.

In its letter of commitment, the miner said its Escondida and Spence mines in Chile and its Olympic Dam complex in Australia, which represented 1.5 million tonnes of production over the 2020 fiscal year, will be demonstrating its responsible production practices.

BHP group sales and marketing officer Michiel Hovers said Copper Mark, a voluntary programme, looks at the critical areas of environment, community, human rights and governance issues.

“We know that our long-term sustainability credentials are important to our customers and increasingly important to end consumers of copper products, such as buyers of electric vehicles and copper intensive consumer durables,” Hovers said.

“The Copper Mark accreditation is an important step in developing an industry-wide approach to transparency and standards for the copper value chain.”

BHP has set a target to reduce its emissions by 30% by 2030 and reach net zero emissions by 2050. In Chile, its goal is 100% renewable power and 100% desalinated water.

Source: www.bhp.com