South Australia's Copper Export Reaches AU$3 Billion in 2025

Copper projects in South Australia

South Australia is home to almost 70 percent of Australia’s economic copper reserves.

Major mines include BHP's (ASX:BHP,NYSE:BHP,LSE:BHP) Olympic Dam, which is located 560 kilometres of Adelaide and holds an investment of around AU$840 million.

The Carrapateena project, also by BHP, is located 472 kilometers north-west of Adelaide with a production rate of about 4.25 million tonnes per annum.

Another copper asset by the mining giant is Prominent Hill, around 650 kilometers north-west of Adelaide, with a production rate of approximately 4 million tonnes per annum.

“BHP is the largest producer of copper in the world, and we expect to grow our copper base from 1.7 million tonnes to around 2.5 million tonnes per annum,” said BHP COO Edgar Basto in an October 2025 statement.

“Achieving that scale requires significant copper growth, and we are fortunate to have a world-class copper province right here in South Australia to do just that.”

In the same month, the Australian Government and Queensland Government announced that they are allocating an AU$600 million investment to save Glencore's (LSE:GLEN,OTCPL:GLCNF) Mount Isa Copper Smelter and Townsville Refinery.

Mount Isa has been around for nearly 100 years, with the Queensland mine's discovery dating back to January 1924. It is among the world’s largest mining complexes and Australia’s second-largest copper producer.

Together with Townsville, the assets were regarded by Glencore as “strategic national assets that underpin the copper supply chain across Queensland and the country’s critical minerals strategy.”

Rex Minerals is also developing its own copper-gold asset, the Hillside project, which sits 12 kilometres south of the Ardrossan township on the Yorke Peninsula.

Hillside is an iron oxide copper gold (IOCG) deposit that currently contains a resource of 1.9 million tonnes of copper and 1.5 million ounces of gold.

Meanwhile, Havilah Resources (ASX:HAV,OTCPL:HAVRF) holds among the larger underdeveloped open pit copper deposits in Australia.

Called the Kalkaroo project, the mine contains 1.1 million tonnes of copper, 3.1 million ounces of gold and 23,200 tonnes of cobalt in measured, indicated and inferred JORC mineral resources.

The SA Government said that both assets are progressing through to development, while other deposits, including BHP’s Oak Dam, Havilah’s Mutooroo and Coda Minerals' (ASX:COD,OTCPL:CODMF) Elizabeth, are showing high prospectivity.

Global copper lens

Copper is expected have rising demand and tight supply in 2026, according to experts.

In a previously published copper forecast by the Investing News Network, it was said that the International Copper Study Group’s (ICSG) most recent forecast, released on October 8, said that copper mine production is expected to increase 2.3 percent in 2026 to 23.86 million metric tonnes (MT).

Demand, however, will see refined copper use grow by 2.1 percent to 28.73 million MT in 2026, outpacing production growth and leading to a 150,000 MT deficit by the end of the year.

With this, prices are set up to hit record highs.

In an email to INN, Natalie Scott-Gray, senior metals demand analyst at StoneX said the average price can rise to US$10,635 per MT, “with higher prices likely to be off-putting to more price-sensitive buyers.”

Sprott Asset Management Exchange-traded Fund Product Manager Jacob White also wrote to INN, saying that “while new projects may add tonnage at the margin, demand growth is likely to outpace any supply additions, which points to further supply deficits that escalate over the coming years.”

Still, South Australia keeps a positive outlook for copper.

“We recognise that current prices are at historic highs, but the global economic drivers for copper suggest demand could remain buoyant for the foreseeable future,” Koutsantonis added.

He said that South Australia is well-placed to meet the demand with its “abundant proven and prospective copper resources,” underlining that the state is not resting on its laurels.

“Ramping up production from existing and new deposits takes risk, effort and long-term commitment from private sector explorers, investors and developers, and the support of governments and communities.”

South Australia Minister for Trade and Investment Joe Szakacs highlighted that over 200,000 jobs across the state are tied to exports.

“Our government recognises the opportunity this momentum provides for our industries.”

“We'll continue to work closely with South Australian exporters for the benefit of our state and our economy.”