(Yicai) July 9 -- China Nerin Engineering, one of the country’s leading metallurgical engineering design companies, has signed an agreement with BHP to deliver key processing facilities for the client’s copper smelter and refinery expansion project in South Australia.

Nerin will provide full-process design and equipment supply services to support the completion and commissioning of BHP’s copper smelting plant at the Olympic Dam mine in early 2032, the Nanchang-based firm announced yesterday, citing a AUD240 million (USD166.5 million) deal it signed with BHP.

The agreement is based on Free Carrier terms, under which Nerin will be responsible for all export customs clearance procedures for the equipment and for loading the equipment onto transport vehicles designated by BHP.

The contract will be executed in stages. The supply portion will only take effect after BHP issues a final investment decision, expected in 2027. Therefore, Nerin may only commence equipment production after receiving written notice.

“Partnering with Nerin reflects our focus on building a globally connected supply chain to support Copper South Australia’s growth,” said Rashpal Bhatti, BHP’s group procurement officer. “Nerin brings the scale and technical expertise to progress complex smelting and refining solutions.”

The expansion project plans to lift the refined copper output of Olympic Dam’s smelter and refinery complex in the Copper South Australia province to 500,000 tons a year through the 2030s, and potentially up to 650,000 tons a year by the end of the decade.

South Australia holds about two-thirds of the country’s copper reserves. BHP’s local copper operations are among the world’s key copper resource assets. Copper ore extracted from the company’s three underground mines in the region -- Olympic Dam, Prominent Hill, and Carrapateena -- is processed for smelting and refining at Olympic Dam, which produced about 316,000 tons in fiscal 2025.

The signing of the deal marks a landmark breakthrough for Nerin’s footprint in the global high-end copper metallurgy market, the company pointed out.

“We are proud to be selected to support BHP’s smelter and refinery expansion studies in South Australia and to apply our experience delivering large-scale copper smelting and refinery facilities around the world,” said Wu Runhua, chairman and general manager of Nerin.

“We look forward to working closely with BHP and its partners to provide a capital-efficient and high-performing design and supply solutions as the project progresses,” Wu added.

Nerin is a professional technology service provider in the non-ferrous metals industry, focused on the entire industrial chain of non-ferrous metals, offering comprehensive technical solutions and full-process services in non-ferrous metal mining, mineral processing, smelting, and metal processing. Its services cover engineering design consulting, engineering, procurement, and construction, equipment integration, and digital and intelligent transformation.

Jiangxi Copper Group, a major Chinese copper enterprise, is Nerin’s second-largest shareholder with a 13.5 percent stake, as well as its biggest customer.

Nerin’s shares [SHA: 603257] were trading up 1.1 percent at CNY68.31 (USD10.04) as of 1.30 p.m. in Shanghai today.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione