Market cap: AU$195.04 billion; share price: AU$38.76

BHP is a global copper producer with operating copper mines in Australia, Chile and Peru, as well as the Resolution copper project in the US. In addition to its copper operations, BHP is a significant producer of a variety of resources including iron ore, nickel, metallurgical coal, potash and uranium.

The company’s Australian copper mine is the massive Olympic Dam operation in South Australia, which also produces gold and uranium as by-products. In 2023, BHP acquired South Australia-based OZ Minerals, which owned the Prominent Hill and Carrapateena copper mines, strengthening BHP's Australian copper portfolio.

In Chile, the company operates the 57.5 percent owned Escondida mine — the world’s largest copper producer — and the wholly owned Pampa Norte operations. BHP also owns 33.75 percent of the Antamina copper-zinc mine in Peru, although it is not the operator.

Following a failed US$39 billion bid for rival Anglo American (LSE:AAL,OTCQX:AAUKF) during Q2, BHP announced on July 30 that it had entered into an agreement with Lundin Mining (TSX:LUN,OTC Pink:LUNMF) to jointly acquire Filo (TSX:FIL,OTCQX:FLMMF) for C$4.1 billion.

The acquisition will grant each company a 50 percent ownership stake in the Filo del Sol copper project in Chile. Additionally, BHP has agreed to purchase a 50 percent ownership stake in Lundin's Josemaria project in the Vicuna mining district on the border between Argentina and Chile. The two projects will be managed under the same joint venture entity.

Market cap: AU$6.76 billion; share price: AU$8.95

Newly listed on the ASX in February 2024, Capstone Copper is a mining company with a portfolio of assets located in the US, Mexico and Chile. The company is also listed on the TSX.

Capstone's 100 percent owned Pinto Valley copper mine in Arizona, US, is fully permitted until 2039 and is expected to produce 58,000 to 64,000 tonnes of copper in 2024. Capstone acquired Pinto Valley from BHP in 2013, and the mine has produced more than 4 billion pounds of copper since it began operating in 1972.

It also is the sole owner of the Cozamin copper and silver mine in Zecatacas, Mexico, which boasts a 1,000 tonne per day throughput and is projected to generate 22,000 to 24,000 tonnes of copper in 2024, as well as the Mantos Blancos copper mine in Antofagasta, Chile, which underwent an expansion in 2021 to extend its mine life significantly.

Additionally, Capstone owns a 70 percent stake in the Mantoverde mine in the Atacama region of Chile, with the remaining 30 percent owned by Mitsubishi Materials (OTC Pink:MIMTF,TSE:5711). The mine is currently in the process of ramping up to commercial production, and Capstone announced on June 25 that it produced its first saleable copper concentrate. Capstone expects to achieve nameplate operating rates during Q3 of 2024.

On July 31, the company released an updated feasibility study for its Santo Domingo copper, iron and gold project in Chile. In the study, Capstone reported an after-tax net present value at an 8 percent discount rate of US$1.7 billion with an internal rate of return of 24.1 percent. The mine's life is expected to be 19 years, with an average annual copper production of 68,000 tonnes.

Market cap: AU$3.8 billion; share price: AU$8.16

Sandfire Resources is a copper mining and developing company with a global portfolio of assets. Sandfire's DeGrussa copper-gold operations in Western Australia were depleted in 2022 and entered care and maintenance in 2023, with the company now working to rehabilitate the site.

Sandfire's primary production now comes from its the MATSA copper, lead and zinc mine in the province of Huelva, Spain. The site boasts a processing capacity of 4.7 million tonnes per annum, and in the June quarter produced 120,888 tonnes of copper concentrate.

Sandfire also owns the Motheo operations in the Kalahari Copper Belt in Botswana. The asset consists of multiple open pits and is currently in the advanced stages of ramping up to production from its A4 open pit and mill. In the June quarter, Motheo produced 45,664 tonnes of copper concentrate and achieved a mill rate of 1.18 million tonnes of ore.

In addition to its producing assets, Sandfire also has been working to advance its Black Butte project in Montana, US. Work on the project stalled in 2021 after a district court revoked a Department of Environmental Quality mining permit for the site. The company subsequently filed a claim against the Department, and on February 26 of this year, it announced the decision was overturned by the Montana Supreme Court and permits for the site were reinstated.

Sandfire is working to improve Black Butte's economics as it works towards a final investment decision. The company released an exploration update from the project on July 25 that highlighted high-grade copper intercepts from its Johnny Lee copper deposit with 15.3 percent copper over 1.8 metres and 12.8 percent copper over 13.2 metres.

Market cap: AU$1.13 billion; share price: AU$15.21

Another newcomer to this list of biggest copper companies, Metals Acquisition is focused on acquisitions in the metals and mining industry for assets that are critical to the energy transition.

The company dual listed on the ASX through an oversubscribed initial public offering that closed in February. The AU$325 million in funds raised by the IPO were the highest for a mining company on the ASX since July 2021, according to its press release.

As for its operations, Metals Acquisition's first acquisition came in June 2023, when it purchased the CSA copper mine in New South Wales from Glencore (LSE:GLEN,OTC Pink:GLCNF). The mine is one of the oldest operating copper mines in Australia with production dating back more than 150 years, and it is one of the deepest at 1.9 kilometres.

In the company’s June quarter update, Metals Acquisition said it achieved record quarterly copper production with 10,864 tonnes, a 24 percent increase over the previous quarter despite major planned maintenance activities in April. Additionally, the company reported that it ended the quarter with a large stockpile of high-grade ore that will underpin production through the September quarter. It expects production to stabilize through the end of 2024.

Market cap: AU$507.06 million; share price: AU$1.96

Unlike the other companies on this list, Develop Global is not yet a producer of copper; instead, it is developing its three copper projects in Australia with the goal of supplying the clean energy transition.

Develop is working towards a potential mine restart for its past-producing Woodlawn zinc-copper project in New South Wales, which closed in 1998. In August 2023, the company reported the discovery of significant high-grade mineralisation, saying it will be incorporated into an updated resource estimate slated for release in the first quarter of 2024. The updated mineral resource estimate will inform the final mine plan.

Its two other projects are located near Port Hedland, Western Australia. The first is its Sulphur Springs project, a near-term volcanogenic massive sulphide project that contains copper, zinc and silver across its Sulphur Springs and Kangaroo Caves deposits.

Its final project is the past-producing Whim Creek copper-zinc project, which Develop owns through a 20/80 joint venture with Anax Metals (ASX:ANX). The site hosts refurbished heap infrastructure for mineral processing.

On August 2, Develop announced it had entered into a funding and offtake agreement with Trafigura that will provide Develop US$65 million through a prepayment facility that will aid in the development of its Woodlawn project. Additionally, Trafigura will buy all of Woodlawn's production for approximately five years. The company says the financing will put Woodlawn on track to begin production in mid-2025.