> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.businessbagel.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Copper just overtook iron ore as BHP's biggest earner for the first time
- URL: https://www.businessbagel.com/bhp-copper-overtakes-iron-ore-dividend/
- Published: 2026-08-19T10:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-19T09:59:59.000Z
- Description: The world's largest miner paid its biggest dividend in four years, and put a South African-born chief executive in front of a decade-long copper plan.
- Author: Christian Maidman
- Tags: Companies, Business Bagel News

BHP reported results for the year to 30 June on Tuesday, and copper did something in them it has never done before. It delivered 54% of the group's underlying operating cash earnings, the EBITDA measure that strips out interest, tax and depreciation, up from 45% a year earlier and worth a record US$18.2bn. Iron ore, the business that built the company, came in at US$14.5bn. Group underlying operating cash earnings rose 27% to US$32.9bn and underlying attributable profit rose 30% to US$13.2bn.

## Where the margin came from

Spot copper averaged 26% higher over the year, with the second half running nearly 40% up as the metal pushed past US$13,000 a tonne, and BHP's own realised price rose 35% to US$5.74 a pound. Volumes did not: copper production slipped 3% to 1.95 million tonnes. What held the margin was cost. Unit costs fell 6.1% across the major assets, Escondida in Chile shaved 10% off its own, and Copper South Australia cut 73%, helped by gold and silver credits from the same ore. The copper division ended the year on a 70% margin.

## What shareholders get

A final dividend of 99 US cents a share, US$5.0bn in all, takes the full-year payout to US$1.72 on a 72% payout ratio, the highest in four years. Net debt fell to US$8.7bn from US$12.9bn and free cash flow jumped 83% to US$9.8bn. Josh Gilbert of Etoro said the 99 cent final dividend is the number that will catch investors' attention, and that BHP is showing it can spend heavily on growth without asking shareholders to sacrifice returns. Holders on the South African branch register trade cum dividend until 1 September, with payment on 23 September.

Brandon Craig, who grew up in Richards Bay and started his career at Rio Tinto's mineral sands operation there, took over as chief executive on 1 July and is the third South African-born boss the company has had. His pitch is a project pipeline across Chile, Australia and Argentina that could lift copper output about 40% by its 2035 financial year, to roughly 2 million tonnes a year. BHP approved US$0.5bn of pre-commitment funding for a new concentrator at Escondida ahead of a possible final decision in 2027 or 2028\. Craig told Bloomberg TV he cannot categorically rule out acquisitions but struggles to find value in them: building copper works out at roughly US$16,000 to US$30,000 a tonne against well over US$100,000 to buy it once a takeover premium is counted. Copper guidance for the year to June 2027 is 1.65 million to 1.8 million tonnes.