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Mining major BHP on Wednesday announced that some A$25-million of the A$50-million set aside for its Vital Resources Fund since it was established in late March has over the past six weeks been committed to organisations and programmes across Australia in the areas of health, education and community resilience.
“We established the BHP Vital Resources Fund to support our regional communities during Covid-19. In just six weeks we have committed half the funding to 46 projects across Australia,” acting president operations minerals Australia, Edgar Basto, said.
“This funding is being delivered to the people and communities who need it the most, through the organisations and initiatives who are working hard to provide vital support through this difficult time.
“We are determined to play our part and the BHP Vital Resources Fund provides critical financial support to help regional communities across the country.”
Spending has focused on critical areas for Australia’s Covid-19 response, including local healthcare, essential services, business and financial support, mental health services, education and Indigenous communities.
In addition to the Vital Resources Fund earmarked for Australia, BHP has previously also established a $25-million fund to aid contractors in Chile after the miner was forced to progressively reduce the number of contractors at its operations amid the Covid-19 pandemic.