BHP's (ASX, NYSE, LSE: BHP) chief executive Brandon Craig is prioritizing copper expansions over acquisitions, brushing aside speculation that the mining giant could pursue uranium developer NexGen Energy (TSX: NXE), as lofty valuations make building projects far cheaper than buying rivals, The Northern Miner reported on August 18, 2026.

According to the report, Craig — framed by the publication as BHP's new boss — favours new builds over mergers and acquisitions, with high valuations across the mining sector making it considerably cheaper to develop projects than to buy rivals. The remainder of the article sits behind The Northern Miner's paywall, which cut off the publicly visible portion of the story mid-sentence.

BHP, headquartered in Melbourne, is one of the world's largest diversified mining companies. Copper has become a cornerstone of its growth strategy, anchored by its majority-owned and operated Escondida mine in Chile and its copper operations in South Australia. The company last expanded its copper portfolio through the acquisition of Australian copper producer OZ Minerals, completed in 2023, and in 2024 it walked away from a proposed takeover of rival Anglo American after its offers were rebuffed. In early 2025 it completed a joint acquisition with Lundin Mining of Canada's Filo Corp, folding the adjacent Filo del Sol and Josemaria copper-gold-silver projects in Argentina's San Juan province into a shared 50/50 venture — a development-stage bet rather than a takeover of an operating rival. The copper tilt tracks the metal's central role in electrification, from power grids, wind and solar installations and electric vehicles to data centres, a demand driver the world's biggest miners have repeatedly cited in portfolio decisions.

NexGen Energy is a Canadian uranium development company headquartered in Vancouver. It is developing the proposed Rook I project, anchored by the high-grade Arrow deposit, in Saskatchewan's Athabasca Basin. Its shares also trade on NYSE American under the same NXE ticker. Rook I, which NexGen has described as one of the largest undeveloped uranium projects in Canada, has been advancing through the country's federal impact-assessment process. Takeover speculation around uranium developers has flared periodically since uranium prices rose sharply earlier this decade and several governments renewed their backing for nuclear power, lifting valuations across the sector.

For BHP, the near-term test of the build-first approach will be how it sequences capital across copper growth options, from planned investments at Escondida to growth plans for its South Australian operations; for NexGen, attention remains on permitting milestones at Rook I.

Source: The Northern Miner — https://www.northernminer.com/news/bhps-new-boss-favours-new-ma/1003894049/