BHP: potash and platinum are in, nickel and aluminum are out

Potash and platinum are in while nickel and aluminum are out. That’s what we can learn from the words of BHP Billiton chief executive Marius Kloppers, who dropped some hints on the company’s next steps. The executive said nickel and aluminum will not be as emphasized in BHP’s future growth as some other products and both metals “are unlikely to attract a large share of the capex going forward”.

After selling controversial assets such as the unprofitable Ravensthorpe nickel mine, Kloppers said the big miner is now focused on “large, long-life, expandable operations carrying low operational and political risk” such as the iron ore operations in the Pilbara region of western Australia or the Olympic Dam copper and uranium project in southern Australia.

On the bid for Potash Corp of Saskatchewan, the world's largest fertilizer producer, Marius Kloppers said the company “fits the bill” as a low-cost producer with long-life assets concentrated in Saskatchewan, near a potash deposit developed by BHP. Aside from Potash, the executive said the company may be readying a bid for a producer of platinum group metals as it considers it could add value to BHP's portfolio.