https://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Rio Tinto PLC chief executive Jakob Stausholm is stepping down earlier than expected, with little explanation from the British-Australian mining giant about what motivated the decision.
London-based Rio is one of the world’s biggest mining companies with a market value of roughly US$106.5-billion. The company also has a significant footprint in Canada stemming from its acquisition of aluminum producer Alcan Ltd. in 2008.
Rio Tinto (ASX, LON: RIO) is doubling down on lithium, with chief executive Jakob Stausholm declaring that South America’s Lithium Triangle is the ideal region to secure the metal critical to the energy transition.
Speaking at the Bank of America Global Metals, Mining and Steel Conference on Tuesday, Stausholm said that brine resources in Argentina, Chile and Bolivia offer the best chance for the world to access low-cost, high-quality lithium.
Rio Tinto is weighing a move into rare earths and other critical minerals as it responds to shifting global market dynamics and trade tensions. Following the company’s annual general meeting in Perth on Thursday, chief executive Jakob Stausholm said the board had discussed rare earths this week and would take a “serious look” at their potential role in Rio Tinto’s portfolio.
Stausholm said that as the company continues to optimize its iron ore operations in the Pilbara and advances developments like the Simandou iron ore project in Guinea, it’s also reshaping its aluminum, copper, and lithium businesses to support the energy transition.
Rio Tinto is optimistic that US President Donald Trump will expedite the final permits approval for its long-delayed Resolution copper project in Arizona. Speaking at the CRU World Copper Conference in Santiago, Rio Tinto’s copper chief executive Katie Jackson said growing US interest in strengthening the copper supply chain could help advance the stalled mine.
“We hope that will be part of getting projects like Resolution to move because it has historically been a long process,” she told attendees. The mining giant has spent more than a decade navigating a complex permitting process.
Rio Tinto has officially completed its $6.7 billion acquisition of Arcadium Lithium, which will become Rio Tinto Lithium. The newly formed unit will take control of Rio’s $2.5 billion Rincon project in Argentina but will not include the mining giant’s Jadar lithium project in Serbia.
The acquisition of Arcadium, announced in October, marks Rio’s largest deal in more than a decade. It positions it among the world’s largest lithium miners, trailing only US-based Albemarle (NYSE: ALB) and Chile’s SQM.
Rio Tinto has secured all regulatory approvals to proceed with its $6.7 billion acquisition of Arcadium Lithium, with the transaction set to close in early March.
The US-based lithium producer confirmed on Friday that Australia, Canada, China, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and the United States have approved the deal under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976.
Last year, copper mining industry watchers were kept entertained by the prospects of a tie-up between BHP and Anglo American after the world’s top miner in May launched an unsolicited bid for the 108-year old company.
The FT reported over the weekend that Melbourne-based BHP is putting a bid for Anglo on ice. Not surprising given the divergence in their share price performance and whether BHP has the pockets or the stomach for a now much more expensive acquisition has always been in doubt.
Rio Tinto said on Wednesday it is very optimistic about US President Donald Trump granting it the final permits for its long-delayed Resolution copper project in Arizona.
The mining giant has faced a 12-year permitting battle to develop the Resolution mine, which has the potential to supply more than a quarter of the US domestic copper needs for decades. “I do think that we have really good chances now to progress that project,” chief executive Jakob Stausholm told the Financial Times. “We have made a lot of progress.”
The recent merger talks between two mining giants—Glencore and Rio Tinto—signal a major shift in the global market. The merger, though now discontinued, was a strategic move aimed at creating a powerhouse focused on electric metals crucial to the global low-carbon economy.
These metals, including copper, nickel, and cobalt, are key components in the development of electric vehicles (EVs), renewable energy infrastructure, and other clean technologies that are central to the global energy transition.
https://www.thesudburystar.com/
Rio Tinto Group and Glencore Plc have held merger discussions, news agency says, although they are not currently active
Could some of Sudbury’s mining operations be part of another mega-mining deal? Bloomberg News reports that Rio Tinto Group and Glencore Plc have held early-stage talks about combining their businesses to create a behemoth to rival longstanding industry titan BHP Group.
The discussions took place as recently as late last year but are not currently active, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing private information.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/
In the mining industry, mass creates mass. As mining companies get bigger, their expenses and debts rise, requiring more revenues and cash flow to cover their costs and occasionally epic cost overruns. So they devour their rivals, which also eliminates the hassle of building mines in unsavoury parts of the planet.
So it has always been, which is why a small number of giants dominate the global industry. BHP and Rio Tinto have market valuations of US$100-billion or more. Further down the list, though still enormous, are Glencore, Vale, Anglo American and Freeport-McMoRan. Soon there will be fewer. Another round of mergers and acquisitions seems almost certain this year.
Miner and commodity trader Glencore said it is open to M&A transactions that create value for its shareholders, leveraging its position as a top three global copper producer.
“As we have always said, M&A is something we are good at and we are always open to do transactions that are value-accretive for the company,” a Glencore spokesperson said. Potential M&A deals were the chief preoccupation for investors in the sector in 2024, but BHP’s $49 billion failed bid for Anglo American in May showed the difficulty of combining diversified producers.
Rio Tinto and Glencore have been discussing combining their businesses, according to people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported.
The Australian mining giant and the Swiss commodities trader and miner have recently held “early-stage talks” about a deal, according to the newswire adding that “it’s unclear whether the talks are still live.” Rio Tinto is the world’s second most valuable mining company and shares with its Melbourne-based neighbour BHP the distinction of being valued at more than $100 billion, but only just.
(Bloomberg) — Rio Tinto Group plans to invest $2.5 billion in a new lithium mine in Argentina in a win for President Javier Milei’s efforts to deregulate the country’s economy and lure foreign investment.
The UK company plans to build a processing plant at the Rincon mine with an annual capacity of 60,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate, it said Thursday in a statement. Work on the facility, subject to permitting, will start in the middle of next year.
Brisbane, Australia (CNN) — Lawyers for women who claim they’ve been sexually harassed while working for global mining giants BHP and Rio Tinto say they’ve been inundated with emails since filing two class action cases in an Australian court.
The separate lawsuits, which were filed in the Federal Court in Sydney and revealed Wednesday by law firm JGA Saddler, alleges widespread and systematic sexual harassment and gender discrimination at the two companies’ worksites over the last two decades.
