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growth","rio-tinto-and-glencore-talks-reflect-the-industrys-appetite-for-growth","article/rio-tinto-and-glencore-talks-reflect-the-industrys-appetite-for-growth",{"_uid":547,"date":548,"tags":549,"editor":556,"content":566,"excerpt":662,"featured":51,"reporter":663,"_editable":667,"component":668,"seo_title":543,"categories":669,"visibility":682,"author_company":49,"featured_image":683,"seo_description":662,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":687,"formattedArticleDate":688},"082c5031-f352-4499-94f1-627ad7c57763","2025-01-20 00:00",[550,553],{"slug":551,"name":552},"glencore","Glencore",{"slug":554,"name":555},"rio-tinto","Rio Tinto",[557],{"slug":558,"name":559,"content":560},"matthew-bird","Matthew Bird",{"job_title":561,"image":562,"bio":564,"linkedin":565},"Senior Editor - Supply Chains & Data Visualisation",{"filename":563},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/14738033ec/matthew-bird.jpeg","Matthew writes, edits and produces content for Benchmark Intelligence and Benchmark Source across the whole mine to grid supply chain. He also acts as a liaison to the press. He has a PhD in electrochemistry from the University of Nottingham.","https://www.linkedin.com/in/birdmatthew/",{"type":567,"content":568},"doc",[569,576,581,596,601,610,615,622,627,632,657],{"type":570,"attrs":571,"content":572},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[573],{"text":574,"type":575},"Rio Tinto and Glencore were engaged in talks over a possible merger last year, according to a recent report by Bloomberg, in what would have been one of the mining industry’s largest deals to date.","text",{"type":570,"attrs":577,"content":578},{"textAlign":49},[579],{"text":580,"type":575},"While discussions are now reported to have ended, the proposal underscores the growing ambition among mining companies to expand their exposure to commodities critical to the global energy transition, such as copper and lithium.",{"type":570,"attrs":582,"content":583},{"textAlign":49},[584,586,594],{"text":585,"type":575},"It comes on the heels of ",{"text":587,"type":575,"marks":588},"BHP’s unsuccessful attempt to acquire Anglo American",[589],{"type":590,"attrs":591},"link",{"href":592,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":593},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/how-bhps-failed-bid-for-anglo-american-could-impact-the-copper-market?_branch_match_id=1544411710970307414&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=share&_branch_referrer=H4sIAAAAAAAAA8soKSkottLXT0rNS87ITSzKzs3MSy1KzCnWSywo0MvJzMvWz%2FLJzfaKMi7JCkyyrytKTUstKsrMS49PKsovL04tsnXOKMrPTQUAkW%2BuoEgAAAA%3D","url",{"text":595,"type":575}," last year – a proposal driven by the Australian mining giant’s desire to secure Anglo’s prized copper assets in Chile and Peru. Although the bid failed, it sparked a wave of interest in potential M&A activity across the mining sector.",{"type":570,"attrs":597,"content":598},{"textAlign":49},[599],{"text":600,"type":575},"The chart below highlights the transformative potential of the proposed Rio Tinto-Glencore merger. Had it gone through, the combined entity would have become the world’s largest copper producer, with an estimated output of 1.6 million metric tons in 2023, surpassing Chilean state-owned Codelco’s production for the same period.",{"type":570,"attrs":602,"content":603},{"textAlign":49},[604],{"type":605,"attrs":606},"image",{"id":49,"alt":607,"src":608,"title":49,"source":49,"copyright":49,"meta_data":609},"","https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdlxG0LINOl_27VXx1Q2CTGQTVfxJPtaCMbn-fZ0XqstZ36_AxqrWsSTpq44cS1ak-wrqrZTMXCbSZYw58_YSRxmBWA0WkRq8CArVkx8owgz6kcNQm-oybKzpITviKwJllhgZVtGw?key=JlmhxciIktwdZnAaa4oPD1XH",{},{"type":570,"attrs":611,"content":612},{"textAlign":49},[613],{"text":614,"type":575},"“Although achieving growth through M&A is an effective and less time-consuming process than new project development, it will not solve the problem of copper supply deficits in the future,” said Ivan Llancas, copper analyst at Benchmark. “Miners still need to invest in new greenfield projects or brownfield expansions in order to effectively reduce the emerging supply gap.”",{"type":616,"attrs":617,"content":619},"heading",{"level":618,"textAlign":49},4,[620],{"text":621,"type":575},"A sign of things to come?",{"type":570,"attrs":623,"content":624},{"textAlign":49},[625],{"text":626,"type":575},"Mining companies increasingly favour M&A as a strategy to bolster their exposure to energy transition commodities, largely due to the risks associated with new project development. These include lengthy permitting processes and recent inflationary pressures, which often lead to spiraling development costs.",{"type":570,"attrs":628,"content":629},{"textAlign":49},[630],{"text":631,"type":575},"It is also hoped that mergers can achieve synergies between projects and commodity classes to increase efficiencies, ultimately reducing operating costs.",{"type":570,"attrs":633,"content":634},{"textAlign":49},[635,637,643,649,651],{"text":636,"type":575},"Rio Tinto itself agreed to acquire US lithium producer Arcadium for $6.7 billion in 2024; a counter-cyclical deal that ",{"text":638,"type":575,"marks":639},"could make the Anglo-Australian a top three miner of the battery metal by 203",[640],{"type":590,"attrs":641},{"href":642,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":593},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/rio-tinto-commits-to-buy-arcadium-lithium-for-6-7-billion",{"text":644,"type":575,"marks":645},"0",[646],{"type":590,"attrs":647},{"href":648,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":593},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/rio-tinto-commits-to-buy-arcadium-lithium-for-6-7-billion?_branch_match_id=1544411702810366781&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=share&_branch_referrer=H4sIAAAAAAAAA8soKSkottLXT0rNS87ITSzKzs3MSy1KzCnWSywo0MvJzMvWd0lyLwusMivJCkyyrytKTUstKsrMS49PKsovL04tsnXOKMrPTQUAuadwMEgAAAA%3D",{"text":650,"type":575},". Benchmark has previously speculated on whether ",{"text":652,"type":575,"marks":653},"Rio’s Arcadium acquisition might entice other miners to enter the lithium fray. ",[654],{"type":590,"attrs":655},{"href":656,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":593},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/will-rio-tintos-move-entice-other-mining-majors-into-lithium?_branch_match_id=1544411695464158572&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=share&_branch_referrer=H4sIAAAAAAAAA8soKSkottLXT0rNS87ITSzKzs3MSy1KzCnWSywo0MvJzMvWz6wIM60qMi%2FJCkyyrytKTUstKsrMS49PKsovL04tsnXOKMrPTQUAPaWgb0gAAAA%3D",{"type":570,"attrs":658,"content":659},{"textAlign":49},[660],{"text":661,"type":575},"Although discussions between Glencore and Rio Tinto seem to have concluded for now, they reflect the strong appetite for growth among mining majors. This is unlikely to be the last proposal of its kind to surface.","Rio Tinto and Glencore were engaged in talks over a possible merger last year, according to a recent report by Bloomberg, in what would have been one of the mining industry’s largest deals to date. While discussions are now reported to have ended, the proposal underscores the growing ambition among mining companies to expand their […]",[664],{"slug":558,"name":559,"content":665},{"job_title":561,"image":666,"bio":564,"linkedin":565},{"filename":563},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"082c5031-f352-4499-94f1-627ad7c57763\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[670,672,675,678,680],{"slug":671,"name":115},"cobalt",{"slug":673,"name":674},"copper","Copper",{"slug":676,"name":677},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals",{"slug":679,"name":8},"lithium",{"slug":681,"name":150},"nickel","private",{"id":49,"alt":607,"name":607,"focus":607,"title":607,"source":607,"filename":684,"copyright":607,"fieldtype":685,"meta_data":686,"is_external_url":51},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/bda8d09aa2/bm-aerial-view-of-santa-rita-strip-copper-mine-near-silver-city-nm.jpg","asset",{"alt":607,"title":607,"source":607,"copyright":607},"Jan 20, 2025","20th January 2025",[],[],1784908363789]