The world's biggest miner, BHP Group Limited (BHP), has picked its next captain. Brandon Craig, a 25-year company veteran, will take over as CEO from Mike Henry starting in July 2026.

"We are very pleased an executive of Brandon Craig's calibre and extensive experience has been appointed as our new CEO to lead the execution of our strategy. I am confident that his discipline and focus will continue to drive BHP's high-performance culture and advance the company's unrivalled pipeline of growth options to maximize shareholder returns," Chair Ross McEwan said in the statement. He added that the company would "recognize the outstanding contribution" of Henry, under whose leadership BHP became safer, more productive, and financially stronger.

The Unexpected Veteran

Craig is a classic insider story. He joined BHP back in 1999 and has worked his way up. His most recent gig was as President Americas, where he was in charge of growth strategies across the U.S., Canada, and South America. In that role, he helped cement BHP's status as the world's top copper producer while pushing forward major projects in both copper and potash.

Before that, he ran the massive Western Australia Iron Ore division, where he worked on making operations run better and keeping BHP as the lowest-cost major producer in the game. The funny part? When rumors about who might take over started swirling a year ago, Craig wasn't really on the shortlist. Sometimes the quiet candidate gets the job.

"As incoming CEO, I am committed to leading the talented and hard-working people who make BHP a great company and continuing to generate long-term value for all our shareholders," Craig said.

Organic Growth, Selective Deals

Mike Henry's six-year run was a period of serious change for BHP. The company got out of the petroleum business, simplified its corporate structure, and pivoted its portfolio toward what it sees as future-facing commodities: copper and potash. It also tightened up operations and became a sector leader in iron ore performance.

The financial results speak for themselves. Shareholders enjoyed average annual returns of around 17%, and the company sent roughly $80 billion back to investors. On the sustainability front, BHP made progress cutting operational greenhouse gas emissions and hit gender balance in its workforce.

So, what does Craig plan to do? He's likely to build on that foundation by pushing forward BHP's internal growth projects, especially in copper and potash, all while keeping a tight grip on spending.

At a press conference, he laid out his thinking: focus on organic growth across core commodities, but stay cautiously open to deals. According to reports, he said any mergers or acquisitions "would have to be incredibly compelling to compete with that set of options that we have." In other words, the bar for doing a deal is very, very high when you have a strong internal pipeline.

BHP Group shares were up 0.91% at $71.12 during premarket trading on Wednesday, according to market data.