RE:tailings and sterileI agree. Also a bit reason why I think BHP is the best fit... they want to offset the fossil fuel high carbon assets they still have. Big oil etc will try to transition to metals for EV/solar/sustainable energy in order to survive this historic revolution.
Here is the recent article again about metals over oil:
https://oilprice.com/Metals/Commodities/Big-Money-Is-Eyeing-Metals-Over-Oil-As-Mining-Assets-Soar.html