BHP Said to Discuss Congo Copper Deal With Billionaire Friedland

BHP Group is in talks about buying into a copper project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, marking a dramatic departure from the world’s biggest mining company’s policy of shunning risky jurisdictions.

The Melbourne-based miner is in early discussions with billionaire Robert Friedland’s Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. to buy into Western Foreland, a huge exploration territory that neighbors Ivanhoe’s Kamoa-Kakula mine, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified as the talks are private. There’s no guarantee BHP will agree a deal with Ivanhoe, and other mining companies are also interested in the project, ...