BHP and partners to demonstrate GHG emissions profile of copper cables with Escondida concentrate
BHP, FCM Corporation (FCM), Mitsubishi Materials Corporation (MMC), NTT Circurust, Inc, NTT DATA Japan Corporation, Sambo Metals Corporation, SENSHU ELECTRIC CO., LTD and Yasaka Electric Wire Co., Ltd have launched a demonstration test to show how the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission profile of copper cables can be traced using the mass balance credit model, helping to support broader efforts toward a more sustainable society.
In recent years, in order to realise a decarbonised society, there has been a need to reduce GHG emissions throughout the value chain, from resource extraction to product manufacturing, use and disposal. In the copper sector, while efforts to reduce GHG emissions in the process of producing ore in mines are progressing, it is difficult to properly communicate these lower GHG emissions attributes and reflect them in the products that end users receive due to the involvement of multiple processes and organisations throughout the value chain.
Therefore, in this demonstration, MMC will first smelt copper concentrate produced at the BHP-operated Escondida Copper Mine in Chile – where operational GHG emissions have been reduced by sourcing 100% of purchased electricity from renewable energy – and process it into wire rod. FCM Corporation and Yasaka Electric Wire will then process wire rod sold by Sambo Metals into copper cables, which will be implemented at the logistics facility of Amazon Japan G.K. through SENSHU ELECTRIC. The environmental attributes will be managed in accordance with the “Guidelines of Mass Balance Credit Model for Copper Products”, and NTT Circurust, and NTT DATA Japan will verify the effectiveness of information-transferring processes intended to ensure traceability and transparency.
Through this demonstration test, the companies aim to clarify issues and identify next steps toward widespread adoption of reliable value chains for copper cables made from lower-GHG-emissions copper ore, contributing to a more sustainable society.
As a global resources company, BHP aims to create purposeful and respectful social value for all stakeholders, it says. As of June 2025, BHP had reduced operational GHG emissions (Scopes 1 and 2 emissions from its operated assets) by 36% from the adjusted FY 2020 baseline, and is working with partners around the world towards its goal to achieve net zero operational GHG emissions by 2050. At its Escondida and Spence copper mines in Chile, it has used 100% renewable electricity since 2022.
Through this initiative, BHP aims to explore practical ways to support the recognition and transfer of GHG-emissions related environmental attributes from mine to end-use applications, and to contribute to improving transparency across complex value chains.
A mass balance model is one of the five Chain of Custody models defined in ISO 22095:2020, under which raw materials or products with specific characteristics are mixed with raw materials or products without those characteristics in accordance with defined criteria. Chain of Custody refers to the process by which inputs and outputs, as well as related information, are transferred, monitored and controlled as they pass through each stage of the relevant value chain.
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