BHP files reveal miner shelved decarbonisation projects and delayed electrification
Exclusive investigation into the 'BHP files' indicates the company war-gamed options to push major climate investments into the 2030s, citing technological unavailability despite shareholder pressure for urgent action.
Leaked internal documents, known as the BHP files, reveal that BHP has halted or significantly delayed key decarbonisation projects in its Western Australian iron ore operations. The cache of records, provided exclusively to The Guardian and the ABC’s Four Corners, shows the world’s largest miner shelved a board-approved 50-megawatt solar farm and 20MW battery project at its Jimblebar mine, which was funded in mid-2023.
A larger renewable energy system, comprising nearly 500MW of solar, wind, and battery storage, has been delayed with no capital funding allocated until at least 2031. This timeline contradicts initial plans for power delivery by December 2027. Internal memos from May 2025 indicate BHP war-gamed options to delay the electrification of its truck and rail fleets until 2035 or 2040, or to take no action at all, citing a "low probability of success" for current plans.
Despite shareholder support for urgent climate action, BHP has continued purchasing diesel trucks. The company acquired more than $500 million in new diesel haulage trucks for Jimblebar and plans to use diesel at a proposed new mine at Ministers North. The documents also show BHP abandoned a processing plant that would have reduced emissions by 1.7 million tonnes annually, a move critics argue risks Australia’s national climate targets.
BHP’s spokesperson cited the lack of scalable 240-ton battery-electric haul trucks as a primary reason for delays, noting no Australian mining operation currently utilises such technology at scale. The company claims it has reduced emissions by 36% on 2020 levels and is trialling battery-electric trucks and rail in the Pilbara. The Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia defended the industry's pace, stating that fully electrified haulage fleets at the Pilbara's scale do not yet exist globally.
Experts and environmental groups have voiced concerns that BHP’s failure to urgently decarbonise could put national climate targets in doubt. Tim Buckley of the thinktank Climate Energy Finance stated that BHP is fundamentally putting Australia’s emissions targets at risk, while Naomi Hogan from the Australian Centre for Corporate Responsibility argued that big miners have an oversized influence in driving climate action through their scale and purchasing power.
