BHP has a new chief executive, and his background says a lot about where the world’s largest listed miner thinks its future lies. Brandon Craig, who took over from Mike Henry on 1 July 2026, made his name running BHP’s iron ore business in Western Australia and then its growth push into copper and potash across the Americas.

A BHP lifer

Craig joined BHP in 1999 and has more than 25 years of operational and corporate leadership experience at the company. His appointment, announced on 18 March 2026, followed what the board described as a formal CEO succession process.

Before becoming chief executive, Craig was BHP’s President Americas from March 2024, responsible for much of the company’s growth strategy in Canada, the United States and South America. During that period, according to BHP, the company became the world’s largest copper producer, and Escondida in Chile, the world’s largest copper mine, extended its grade and production guidance. He oversaw the creation of the Vicuña joint venture in Argentina and Chile, a copper and gold project BHP says could become one of the world’s top mines in those metals, as well as the company’s non-operated joint ventures in Brazil, Peru and the United States.

Before that, he led Western Australia Iron Ore, where BHP says he improved operational performance and extended its lead as the lowest-cost major iron ore producer in the world.

The handover from Mike Henry

Craig inherits a company that Henry reshaped over six and a half years. Under Henry, BHP demerged its petroleum business, high-graded its coal portfolio, unified its dual listing structure and pivoted towards copper and potash. BHP says average total shareholder returns were about 17% a year during Henry’s tenure, and that it returned around US$80 billion to shareholders. Henry is supporting the transition until 30 November 2026.

BHP chair Ross McEwan said in March that he was confident Craig’s “discipline and focus will continue to drive BHP’s high-performance culture and advance the company’s unrivalled pipeline of growth options to maximise shareholder returns.”

Craig paid tribute to his predecessor’s “strategic decision-making, portfolio transformation, operational excellence and focus on safety and high-performance culture”, and said he would “work tirelessly with the Board and management” to take the company forward.

The agenda

The priorities are clear from BHP’s own disclosures:

  • Copper growth. BHP is targeting around 2.5 million tonnes of copper-equivalent production a year by the mid-2030s, and more than half of its recent half-year earnings came from copper.
  • Jansen. The Jansen potash project in Canada, a major new business for BHP, is on track to begin operations in mid-2027.
  • Iron ore. Western Australia Iron Ore remains the company’s cash engine, and its cost leadership underpins BHP’s dividends.

His remuneration terms were disclosed in full: a base salary of US$1.9 million, with short- and long-term incentives tied to performance, a relocation allowance to move to Melbourne, and a 12-month non-compete clause.

The package is weighted towards long-term performance. His annual incentive target is 240% of base salary, paid in equal parts as cash and as rights deferred for two and five years, and he receives long-term incentive rights worth 200% of base salary each year, measured over five years. He must also build and hold BHP shares worth five times his base salary, and keep them for two years after retirement, a structure designed to align his interests with those of long-term shareholders.

What it means for Australia

BHP is one of the largest companies on the ASX and a mainstay of Australian superannuation portfolios, so its strategy matters well beyond the mining sector. Craig’s appointment confirms that the Big Australian sees its growth in copper and potash, much of it in the Americas, while relying on Pilbara iron ore to fund that growth and shareholder returns. How he balances those priorities, and how he manages relationships with governments and communities on several continents, will shape BHP for the next decade.