Brendan Harris, MD and CEO of Sandfire Resources, joins Money of Mine for a conversation on building a lower-beta copper company in a volatile sector.

His philosophy is clear: miners cannot control commodity prices, FX, freight, input costs, grade variability, geopolitics or market sentiment, so they must ruthlessly eliminate the volatility they can control.

We discuss why debt can be dangerous in mining, how Sandfire thinks about balance sheet strength, and why Brendan believes good mining M&A is rare. He explains what made Kalkaroo asymmetric, why Sandfire was willing to move there, and why it chose not to pursue other seemingly logical opportunities.

We also cover copper scarcity, lessons from Macquarie, BHP and South32, and how Sandfire is trying to survive the cycle, wait patiently, and move with conviction when the right opportunity appears.

Follow Brendan:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendan-harris-0819927b/

Subscribe for more conversations with the people shaping mining, commodities and capital markets.

Episode recorded: 01.05.2026

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TIMESTAMPS  

(0:00) Debt and Mining Beta
(4:10) Career Risks and Conviction
(10:00) Mentors and Market Shifts
(16:50) Commodity Cycles and Asymmetry
(25:50) Suppressing Volatility in Operations
(44:00) Empowering Global Assets
(46:40) Fixing the Balance Sheet
(48:40) Australia Mining Reality Check
(55:20) Botswana Social License
(1:03:10) Copper Outlook and Wrap

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