BUSINESS
South32 sinks on Trump-fuelled cost blowout and delays
Shares in South32 are in the red after the diversified miner shocked investors with a huge cost blowout and delays at its much-hyped Hermosa project in the US.
The Perth-based company on Thursday revealed that capital costs to build out the project’s first stage Taylor zinc-lead-silver development in Arizona had jumped more than 50 per cent to $US3.3 billion ($4.6b) — up from a $US2.2b feasibility study price tag published in early 2024.
South32 also pushed back its plant commissioning and first production target to the second half of the 2028 financial year, a year later than planned, with nameplate capacity of 4.3 million tonnes a year also delayed a year to FY31.
It pinned part of the blame on “contractor under-performance” and US President Donald Trump’s tariffs.