Turkish billionaire strikes $465 million BHP Brazil mine deal

CoreX Holding BV agreed to buy mining giant BHP Group Ltd’s Carajas copper mines in Brazil for as much as $465 million, the biggest deal yet in Turkish billionaire Robert Yuksel Yildirim’s push to build a metals supply chain independent of China.

The companies entered into a binding agreement for the sale on Aug. 15, BHP announced early Tuesday alongside its full-year earnings, with up to $225 million of the price tag contingent on future production and project-related targets.

“This transaction follows a strategic review in 2024, which concluded that the Carajas assets would benefit from owners prioritizing the operations and developing the assets to their full growth potential,” BHP said in its statement.

For Yildirim’s CoreX, the move marks the company’s first copper deal, following previous acquisitions of nickel assets as bigger miners seek to exit due to low prices for the battery metal. The billionaire, who made his fortune in chrome and shipping, aims to challenge China’s dominance over critical metal supply chains and become a key supplier to the US and Europe, he told Bloomberg in an interview in April.

Besides mining, CoreX is also investing in ports, most recently announcing plans to expand its container shipping capacity in Turkey. The company has headquarters in both Istanbul and Amsterdam.

Carajas produced 9,400 tons of copper in the year through June 2025, according to BHP’s results, up 15% from the previous year.

BHP’s full-year underlying profit fell by more than 25% to a five-year low in the year on softer Chinese demand, according to its earnings statement, broadly in line with expectations.

(By Patrick Sykes)