BHP, Ivanhoe Electric to hunt for US copper together

Mining giant BHP (ASX: BHP; LSE: BHP; NYSE: BHP) and Ivanhoe Electric (NYSE: IE; TSX: IE) have partnered to explore for copper and other critical minerals in selected areas in the United States, where they would potentially form 50:50 joint ventures.

“BHP and Ivanhoe Electric have a common goal to find new sources of the critical minerals necessary to meet growing demand associated with the energy transition and the electrification revolution,” Ivanhoe Electric executive chairperson Robert Friedland said in a news release.

“We see today’s announcement as the first step in what we expect to be a long and successful partnership between Ivanhoe Electric and BHP,” Ivanhoe Electric CEO Taylor Melvin noted. 

The alliance is structured in two phases: project generation and joint venture, with exploration activities leading to the possible development and operation of mining projects. 

Initial exploration will focus on six areas across Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, with BHP investing US$15 million over the initial three-year term. Ivanhoe Electric will provide access to one of its new generation Typhoon geophysical survey systems, as well as the machine learning algorithmic software and data inversion services of its subsidiary, Computational Geosciences.

The companies anticipate that the future significant mineral findings in the U.S. will probably be found at great depths, in regions where newer, non-mineralized layers cover the geological formations below.

Ivanhoe Electric has been applying the same strategy in other parts of the world to secure reliable supplies of copper, a key material in the transition to renewable energy and electric mobility.

Last year, the firm kicked off one of the biggest exploration campaigns ever in Saudi Arabia with its 50:50 joint venture partner, state-owned mining company Ma’aden, in which they are using the Typhoon technology.

Ivanhoe Electric’s proprietary technology, created by I-Pulse Inc. of Toulouse, France, is already at work at the company’s Santa Cruz copper project in Arizona.