Rio Tinto and Glencore announce merger plans to create world’s largest copper miner 

Rio Tinto and Glencore have announced discussions are taking place between the two companies to merge. The two companies are major copper miners and if the deal comes to fruition, the size of the merger would eclipse that of even Teck and Anglo American’s proposed merger.

The statement on Rio Tinto’s website notes, “The parties’ current expectation is that any merger transaction would be effected through the acquisition of Glencore by Rio Tinto by way of a Court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement.”

These talks come after previous merger discussions between the two miners collapsed in 2024.

How big would a merged Glencore-Rio Tinto be?

The two companies have various other assets but would be a significant copper miner. Benchmark’s Copper Service shows that their combined 2026 production would be over 1.6mt of production, higher than any other company globally

Glencore’s Collahuasi mine in Chile and Rio Tinto’s Oyu Tolgoi in Mongolia are both set for significant increases in production in the coming years too, meaning the copper production of a merged Rio Tinto and Glencore would remain incredibly significant for years to come.

Interest in copper has been rising in recent years, with demand for the metal from accelerating global electrification efforts outpacing project pipelines meaning prices may rise. Copper prices surpassed $13,000/t for the first time in history on 5 January 2026.

New greenfield projects can be challenging and financially arduous, hence the current spate of merger interest.

The merger would be beneficial for both companies but wouldn’t necessarily alleviate supply concerns, as it would be consolidating production rather than creating new production.

This news follows Glencore’s recent statements regarding their growing copper mining capacity. The company was already aiming for around 1.6mt of production by 2035, which would position Glencore to be one of the largest copper miners in the coming years even without the merger.

Glencore forecast that a significant amount of that growth will come from projects in Argentina, with El Pachón and Agua Rica significantly contributing to the expected production growth.

Glencore did, however, lower their guidance for 2026 to 840kt from 930kt, partly due to challenges at Collahuasi. Benchmark had already forecasted Glencore’s 2026 production lower than their guidance at 879kt of attributable production, however, this new guidance is lower than that forecast.

If this merger goes ahead along with the Anglo American-Teck merger announced in September 2025, also with a large focus on copper, then two of the six largest copper miners would have been formed by recent mergers.

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