Scandal-hit mining companies BHP and Glencore pay record $12bn to investors

A nickel sulphate plant that global miner BHP Group is building to service the battery industry at its Nickel West operations, south of Perth, in Australia Photograph: Melanie Burton/Reuters

Scandal-hit mining companies BHP and Glencore have paid out a record $12bn in dividends to investors as the price of the materials the companies mine continues to boom.

BHP, the world’s biggest mining group which scrapped its dual stock market structure dropping London last year for a sole listing in Sydney, announced a record $7.6bn half-year dividend on Tuesday.