The BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) share price is up more than 7% after announcing its HY26 result and a US$4.3 billion silver deal.
BHP is a major ASX mining share and produces commodities like iron ore, copper and coal. It also produces silver.
Antamina is a large copper and zinc mine, with some silver production, located 270km north of Lima, Peru. In 2025, BHP’s share of its production was 5.4 million ounces of silver, It also produced 124,200 tonnes of copper and 129,400 tonnes of zinc.
Silver deal
BHP announced that it has entered into a long-term streaming agreement with Wheaton Precious Metals, one of the world’s largest precious metal streaming companies.
A stream is a long-term contract where the purchaser buys the right to a percentage of future precious metal production for an upfront payment.
Wheaton will pay US$4.3 billion upfront payment to BHP and the ASX mining share will deliver silver to Wheaton produced at the Antamina mine.
BHP has a 33.75% investment in Compania, Minera Antamina, the operator of the Antamina mine. It will deliver 33.75% of the silver produced by Antamina.
Wheaton will also pay BHP 20% of the spot silver price at the time of delivery for each ounce delivered.
After 100 million ounces of silver has been delivered to Wheaton, the stream will be reduced and BHP will deliver 22.5% of the silver produced by Antamina over the remaining life of the mine.
The effective starting date of the agreement is 1 April 2026.
BHP shares its reasoning for the deal
The miner said that the agreement maximises shareholder capital from a non-core commodity that can be reallocated to BHP’s high-return growth projects and shareholder returns.
The deal will allow BHP to realise the value of the silver from Antamina while retaining full exposure to all copper, zinc and lead production of BHP’s share.
The BHP chief financial officer Vandita Pant said:
Today’s announcement is a further example of our active capital management in action, and focus on strategically unlocking value from our portfolio. The upfront consideration compares favourably with the consensus estimates of our entire share of Antamina. Together with the recent transaction with Global Infrastructure Group and subject to closing of both transactions, we expect to unlock over $6 billion of cash to strengthen our balance sheet flexibility, support long-term value creation and enhance BHP’s shareholder value.
Final thoughts on the BHP share price
If I were a shareholder, I’d be delighted by the progress of the business to unlock value from its projects and balance sheet while still having all the exposure to copper, iron and its other core commodities.
With it hitting an all-time high today, I can’t call it great value, so I’d be waiting for a better share price before investing. However, the steady growth of copper earnings is great for earnings stability and long-term growth potential.
For now, there are other ASX dividend shares I’d rather buy.
