The BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) share price is pushing upwards on Wednesday morning. This comes amid the company's latest update on its offer made for an overseas-based nickel miner.
At the time of writing, the diversified miner's shares are swapping hands for $41.92, up 0.5%.
What did BHP announce?
Investors are buying up BHP shares following the company's update that it has backed out of the bidding war with Wyloo Metals.
According to its release, BHP advised it will not match the superior offer made by Wyloo Metals for Canadian-listed nickel miner, Noront Resources (TSXV: NOT).
Mining tycoon Dr Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest's Wyloo Metals placed a superior offer for Noront at a price tag of C$616.9 million (A$667.99 million).
As such, Wyloo has indicated it will pay C$1.10 (A$1.19) per Noront share, outbidding BHP's C$0.75 cents (A$0.81) offer made earlier this month. It's worth noting that Wyloo is already Noront's biggest shareholder with a 37.25% stake as of September 2021.
The ongoing tussle between both companies for Noront's assets highlights the pursuit among miners to secure key battery making ingredients. Particularly, demand for nickel and lithium is expected to surge by the strong adoption of electric vehicles.
Noront has ownership or a controlling interest of all the major discoveries in the "Ring of Fire". This is located in the James Bay Lowlands of Northern Ontario.
In addition, the company's Eagle's Nest deposit is considered to be the largest high-grade nickel discovery in Canada. The site is projected to begin commercial production of nickel in 2026 with a mine life of 11 years.
BHP chief development officer, Johan van Jaarsveld commented:
BHP is committed to its strict capital discipline framework. While the Eagle's Nest deposit is a promising resource, we do not see adequate long-term value for BHP shareholders to support an increase in BHP's offer in order to match the C$1.10 per share proposal from Wyloo Metals Pty Ltd.
BHP share price summary
Since the beginning of the year, the BHP share price has moved in circles following a volatile market environment. Its shares are slightly in the red, hovering 1% below for the past 12 months.
This is a stark contrast from when its shares were tracking almost 30% higher for the year-to-date period during August.
Based on today's price, BHP presides a market capitalisation of roughly $123.67 billion and has approximately 2.95 billion shares outstanding.
