The president of BHP Billiton's American assets has urged the copper industry to transform its technology, culture and ultimately its productivity levels, in comments that come just days after the end of a 44-day strike at the company's Escondida mine.

Speaking at a major copper conference in Santiago, BHP's Daniel Malchuk said the copper industry spent a lot of time talking about the challenges of declining grades, deeper mines and higher expectations from host communities, but did little to try to solve these challenges.