Faraday-BHP's Planned Property Acquisition

On July 2, 2026, Faraday Copper announced its final signing of a letter of intent with BHP to acquire the Australian mining giant’s San Manuel Mine. The deal will not be official until shareholders vote, likely at the end of quarter three. 

Because the company has failed to keep the community informed, we can rely only on messaging from their latest press release and social media posts aimed at investors, including two video interviews with Faraday's CEO Paul Harbidge, posted on July 7, 2026 and June 6, 2026 respectively, as well as one with Faraday’s CFO Graham Richardson, posted on June 29, 2026.

What we know:

• Faraday Copper will assume ownership of 27,000 acres of privately owned BHP land.

• That land includes important water wells along the San Pedro, as well as the BHP pond, and critical riparian habitat along the San Pedro.

• Faraday Copper will assume all financial and environmental liability for BHP’s existing properties – including tailings along the river and at the open-pit – as well as closure liabilities. (Tailings facilities never stop needing maintenance and environmental oversight.) See Earthworks’ new study, The Future of Mine Waste: From the Myth of Zero Tailings to Real Solutions and their Guidelines for Responsible Mine Tailings Management.

• Faraday has paused operations at Copper Creek and “expects to resume drilling in the fall, once the proposed acquisition of San Manuel has closed.”

• Faraday Copper plans to “mobilize drill rigs in September or October and start that drilling” (on BHP property) “so we can meet our target of a combined resource for Copper Creek and San Manuel by mid-next year [2027].” (See recent video above 1:38:35).

What we don’t know is everything else: How will the mine’s water use will impact groundwater and the flow of the San Pedro? How much more heavy traffic can be expected? What will be the toll on wildlife habitat? What kinds of added infrastructure and facilities will be built? When and where? What is the projected scope of what is considered "one of the largest undeveloped copper-mining projects in the U.S."?

We will post more information as it becomes known. To stay informed, please consider signing up as a member.