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The head of the world’s largest mining company has said the outlook for the global economy depends on China’s ability to invigorate domestic consumption, as Donald Trump’s tariffs threaten to disrupt global trade.

Mike Henry, chief executive of Australia’s BHP, said the direct tariff impact on the miner had been “limited”, but the potential for slower economic growth and a fragmented trading environment was a bigger issue for it.

“China’s ability to shift towards a consumption-led economy and for trade flows to adapt to the new environment will be key to sustaining the global outlook,” said Henry.

The comment from the Melbourne-based miner echoed rival Rio Tinto’s a day earlier, when it pointed to “an uncertain future impact from tariffs on the commodity markets going forward”.

China’s booming property and industrial sectors have helped drive demand for commodities including iron ore and copper over the past two decades, boosting global mining companies.

Weakness in the Chinese property market has stifled the sector’s outlook over the past year, but miners including BHP have expressed confidence that China’s plan to revitalise domestic consumption and restore confidence in its economy will bolster demand.

BHP on Thursday said copper production had increased 10 per cent in the three months to the end of March, while iron ore was flat and nickel and coal volumes declined.

The miner has focused on expanding its copper production to meet future demand for a commodity considered key to the energy transition.

It produced 1.5mn tonnes of copper in the nine months to the end of March, a record owing largely to the performance of its Chilean mines and a stabilisation of its assets in South Australia, which were hit by bad weather earlier in the year.

BHP shares, which have fallen 8 per cent over the past month in the market turmoil from the looming trade war between China and the US, gained more than 1 per cent on Thursday.

Analysts said the “robust” production performance affirmed that the company would deliver volumes at the upper end of its forecasts in most of its key commodities.

The miner continued its push to exit coal assets, revealing this week it had received government permission to close its Mount Arthur mine in northern New South Wales by 2030 — reversing a previous plan to run the giant site until 2045 — and would instead explore whether it can convert the site into a hydropower facility.

The Lyrid meteor shower, one of the oldest annual meteor showers known to humankind, will once again grace Earth’s sky beginning this week.

This year, the meteors are expected to come into view on Wednesday night and last through April 25.

What exactly are the Lyrids?

The Lyrids, like all meteor showers, are the flying trails of debris left behind by comets, according to Bill Cooke, the lead of NASA’s Meteoroid Environments Office. This shower is the litter of Comet Thatcher, first documented in 1861 by A.E. Thatcher.

“Thatcher left a debris trail that the Earth runs into the third week in April of every year, and that causes the shower when these bits of debris enter our atmosphere and burn up,” Cooke told NPR.

Amateur stargazers have come to know those pieces of incinerated detritus as shooting stars, darting meteors and fireballs.

Earthlings have been observing the Lyrids’ sky show for thousands of years, with the first recorded sighting in 687 B.C.

Thatcher is a relatively little-known comet that takes more than 400 years to orbit the sun, Cooke said. The last time it was in Earth’s line of sight was right around the start of the Civil War.

The comet itself will not enter Earth’s view again until the late 23rd century.

Coincidentally, the Lyrids will coincide with another shower, the Eta Aquariids, which is expected to begin on Friday and last through May 28th. That shower is expected to peak on May 5 and 6, according to the American Meteor Society.

How can I watch the meteor shower?

The peak of the Lyrid shower this year is expected around April 21 and 22, when the tail is at its peak.

Luckily, no special equipment is required to observe the shower’s brilliant lights. The main requirement is a clear, dark sky.

“You’re not going to see meteors from downtown Manhattan or Central Park,” Cooke said. “You need to find the darkest sky you can, you need to lay flat on your back and look away from the moon.”

Give yourself 30 to 45 minutes for your eyes to adjust to the dark, Cooke said — and from there, simply enjoy the show.