Twitter

Glencore

High Teck: The Canadian miner’s reinvention as a critical-metals player—via its massive copper mine in Chile’s Andean foothills— could prove its undoing as an independent company – by Eric Reguly (ROB/Globe and Mail – March 24, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The Canadian plan to evolve into global critical-metals player by opening one of the biggest copper mines in South America got off to an unlucky start. On Sept. 25, 1996, Frank Pickard, the Sudbury, Ont., native who was the CEO of Falconbridge, then one of Canada’s top two diversified mining companies (the other was Inco), boarded a small aircraft on the Chilean coast and flew to the Collahuasi mine in the Atacama Desert, in the far north of the country, in the Andean foothills near the Bolivian border.

Within minutes of stepping out at 4,400 metres (14,400 feet)—half the height of Everest—he was felled by a heart attack and died. He was 63. A retired mining engineer and consultant friend of mine, Jeffrey Franzen, who worked for a subsidiary of Falconbridge at the time, told me that based on the story he’d heard, Pickard’s failure to acclimatize before reaching the Andean heavens, where effective oxygen levels are far lower than those at sea level, probably triggered his death. (Legend says he was buried in a coffin made of nickel, Falconbridge’s main product, as was his wish.)

Read more

‘At Sudbury, we are nowhere near having found it all’ – by Stan Sudol (Sudbury Star – March 18, 2025)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Magna Mining’s critical mineral transformation in the Sudbury Basin to create new wealth, jobs

From American President Donald Trump’s desire to take over Greenland and perhaps Canada, and his recent confrontation with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as well as Premier Doug Ford’s determination to get Ring of Fire infrastructure built, the general public is now acutely aware of the strategic and geopolitical importance of critical minerals.

And yet, Canada’s largest critical mineral mining camp – the legendary Sudbury Basin, which has been in operation for slightly over 140 years and controlled by two of the world’s largest miners, Brazilian-based Vale and Swiss-owned Glencore – seems to have been largely ignored by the mainstream media.

Since both Vale and Glencore have historically controlled much of the land package in the region, few juniors have thrived.

Read more

Glencore overhauls embattled Canadian smelters as margins plunge – by Julian Luk and Thomas Biesheuvel (Bloomberg News – March 14, 2025)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

Glencore Plc is doubling down on a cost-cutting drive at its Canadian copper and zinc plants following job cuts last year, in a further overhaul of its global smelting business following a collapse in processing margins.

The company’s copper plants in Quebec — as well as several recycling sites in the US — will be absorbed into the miner’s global zinc smelting division, with the aim of increasing business synergies and operational efficiency, according to internal memos seen by Bloomberg.

Read more

Teck signals it’s open to deal with Glencore around combining QB2 and Collahuasi copper mines – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – February 21, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Teck Resources Ltd. chief executive Jonathan Price indicated he is open to a tie-up with former foe Glencore PLC that would combine its giant QB2 copper mine in Chile with Glencore’s neighbouring Collahuasi operation.

QB2 is the mine that underpinned Teck’s revamp to become a fully focused critical-minerals company after it sold its legacy coal business to Glencore. Glencore co-owns another giant copper mine near QB2 called Collahuasi. Billions in cost savings are potentially on the table if QB2 and Collahuasi can be brought under the same ownership and operated as one gigantic facility.

Read more

‘We’re still open for business’: Kidd mine manager talks closure plans – by Amanda Rabski-McColl (Timmins Today – February 7, 2025)

https://www.timminstoday.com/

Environmental remediation jobs will be plentiful after base metal mine closes in late 2026

TIMMINS – Glencore is open for business even as the Kidd Mine site closes. That was the message at the Timmins Chamber’s State of Mining lunch, where Kidd Operations general manager Dawid Myburgh laid out the site’s successes in the last 58 years and the early stages of its closure plans.

The Kidd Mine is slated to close at the end of 2026. Myburgh laid out the opportunities and work left to do as the closure takes place. “We haven’t in our studies found an economically viable way to go on,” he said. “It’s not a farm. Every time we take something out, it doesn’t grow out, so it’s a normal part of mining and it’s something that, as a team we’re looking at being proud of how we do it.”

Read more

Can a Rio Tinto-Glencore Merger Supercharge the Race to Net Zero? – by Jennifer L (Carbon Credits – January 21, 2025)

https://carboncredits.com/

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.

Read more

Sudbury could be part of massive mining merger – if it occurs – by Staff (Sudbury Star – January 19, 2025)

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.

Read more

Opinion: Big Mining’s takeover mania seems on break. It won’t last long as copper demand soars – by Eric Reguly (Globe and Mail – January 18, 2025)

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.

Read more

Glencore open to deals as investors brace for more mining M&A – by Clara Denina and Pratima Desai (Reuters – January 20, 2025)

https://www.reuters.com/

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.

Read more

Rio Tinto and Glencore discuss potential merger – by Frik Els (Mining.com – January 16, 2025)

https://www.mining.com/

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.

Read more

Two bids made for Glencore stake in New Caledonia’s Koniambo Nickel (Reuters – January 8, 2025)

https://www.reuters.com/

Two potential buyers for Glencore’s stake in mothballed New Caledonian nickel producer Koniambo Nickel SAS (KNS) have submitted offers following site visits late last year, KNS said.

Part of a loss-making nickel industry in French-controlled New Caledonia, KNS halted its operations in March after commodity group Glencore decided to sell its 49% interest.

Read more

Glencore confirms it will close Kidd Creek Mine at the end of 2026 – by Darren MacDonald (CTV News Northern Ontario – December 3, 2024)

https://northernontario.ctvnews.ca/

A spokesperson for Glencore Canada said Tuesday the company will close its Kidd Creek Mine near Timmins at the end of December 2026.

Alexis Segal, head of communications for Glencore Canada, told CTV News the decision comes after a 2021 study found there was no way to extend the life of the mine. “It’s already the deepest base metal mine in the world,” Segal said. There was no way to safely and economically mine deeper, forcing Glencore to close.

Read more

Rio Tinto, BHP & Glencore ‘Feeling the Pinch on Copper’ – by Sean Ashcroft (Mining Digital.com – September 30, 2024)

https://miningdigital.com/

Major diversified miners including Rio Tinto, BHP Group & Glencore are feeling the pressure of a slowdown in global economic growth and declining commerce

Some of the world’s biggest mining companies are struggling to balance investor expectations for hefty returns against the necessity of paying a premium to acquire pure-play copper companies. The challenge comes as global demand for the metal drives valuations to new heights, reports Reuters.

Major diversified miners, including Rio Tinto, BHP Group, and Glencore, are feeling the pressure of a slowdown in global economic growth and declining commodity prices. These factors have led to a significant decrease in their share prices, ranging from 10% to 15% this year.

Read more

Goldman has a stock model that’s challenging ESG assumptions – by Frances Schwartzkopff (Bloomberg News – September 10, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

At Goldman Sachs Group Inc., there’s an ESG filter that tells investors to buy coal giant Glencore Plc, and avoid Big Tech staples Microsoft Corp. and Alphabet Inc.

The filter is designed to pick stocks based on how much attention companies pay to recycling, waste management and the re-use of materials and products. The better they do, the higher they score on a metric called circularity. The approach, the latest example of the huge portfolio variations that investors face depending on the ESG screen they use, has shown it can beat the wider market over time, according to Goldman.

Read more

Sudbury’s mining operations impress US Consul General – by Hugh Kruzel (Sudbury Star – August 23, 2024)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

‘There is a lot of interest from US companies here,’ Baxter Hunt says

Visiting dignitaries are always asked why they are in Sudbury. This week, The Sudbury Star met with Baxter Hunt, US Consul General, during his multi-day tour of the area. Hunt had met Greater Sudbury Mayor Paul Lefebvre at PDAC in Toronto earlier this year. Lefebvre invited him to visit.

“I promised him I was going to get up here soon,” said Hunt, who started in this role in the fall of 2023. It is a three-year assignment. Back in July, the Hunt family drove up to Lake Temagami. He called the area “spectacular” and since he has heard of Killarney, he seems keen to experience more of the north.

Read more