BHP Boosts Exploration Budget in Hunt for Copper to Petroleum

  • Biggest miner to lift annual spending by more than a quarter
  • Competitors including Rio Tinto also prioritizing copper
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BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s biggest miner, will raise its annual exploration budget by more than a quarter to $900 million as it targets discoveries in copper and conventional petroleum.

The Melbourne-based producer is allocating more capital to hunt for potential discoveries in the two materials, it said Monday in a presentation. That’s even as it cuts overall capital expenditure to $5 billion in the year beginning next month, compared to a peak of $25 billion in fiscal 2013. BHP in February estimated exploration spending in the current fiscal year would account for $700 million of its forecast $7 billion capital expenditure.