Nature Positive Role of the Mining and Metals Sector

To better understand and manage the value of nature to their businesses and to the communities where they operate, BHP is one of the first companies to trial natural capital accounting within the mining industry.279 After developing an initial natural capital accounting case study at the Beenup site in Western Australia in 2023, piloting has been extended to the Olympic Dam operation in South Australia as part of a broader collaboration with the Cooperative Research Centre for Transformations in Mining Economies, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), the University of South Australia and the Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.  Following these two pilots, the organization has developed a preliminary natural capital metrics framework. The framework considers the ecological status and socioeconomic value of the natural capital assets that BHP impacts and depends on. It was applied in FY2024 (financial year 2024) to establish the initial metrics that are intended to measure the impact of BHP’s nature-positive management practices.Applying natural capital accounting in the mining sector BOX 7 Nature Positive: Role of the Mining and Metals Sector 42