Rio is the world’s second-largest miner, and Glencore is one of the biggest producers of coal and base metals worldwide.
Rio Tinto and Glencore are holding early-stage discussions, exploring the possibility of a merger that could create the world’s largest mining company, with a combined market value of $207 billion. Mining corporations across the globe are rushing to bulk up metals, particularly copper, which is particularly necessary as energy transition goals and AI demand are on the rise.
This wave has caused a series of new partnerships and acquisitions in the industry in the past couple of years, most notably, the London-based Anglo American and Canadian Teck Resources, which announced in September 2025 that, as the sector’s second biggest M&A deal, their new venture will create a copper-focused industry giant.
Glencore had made a merger proposal to Rio Tinto in late 2024, but in January of last year, reports emerged confirming that talks had ended. Rio is the world’s second-largest miner, and Glencore is one of the biggest producers of coal and base metals worldwide. Although the previous round of discussions was brief, it appears that the second time’s the charm, as both companies have already offered a tiny glimpse of what a potential merger could entail, including which assets could be included.
The industry heavyweights confirmed that Rio Tinto could buy out ‘some or all of’ Glencore’s shares. However, there was no comment about a takeover premium or who would be managing the newly merged entity if the ‘biggest mining deal’ was completed. Under UK laws, Rio has until February 5th to either make a formal offer to Glencore or announce that it is not interested in proceeding further with the deal.
There was a complete opposite reaction to the shares of both companies to the breaking of this news. The US-listed Glencore shares climbed 6% while the Australian-listed shares of Rio plummeted by 6.4%, marking the biggest intraday fall since July 2022. This reaction indicates the obvious disapproval of Rio’s shareholders and investors for this merger. Rio Tinto has a market capitalisation of about $142 billion, while Glencore is valued at $65 billion.
With greener energy reforms becoming the norm amongst all countries, and as all countries and companies alike want to be the world’s AI leaders, copper is becoming a highly sought-after metal. Rio, despite being the world’s biggest iron ore miner, and Glencore are both shifting their focus to copper mining.
Earlier this week, consultancy firm S&P Global said that global copper demand is set to jump 50% by 2040, but warned that supplies could fall short by more than 10 million metric tons annually if more mining and recycling activities are not continued. The report also revealed that while the EV industry has been instrumental in lifting copper demand in the last decade, demand for the metal, which is used extensively in AI, defence and robotics industries, will continue to be on the uptrend.
As copper takes centre stage, concerns surrounding Glencore’s coal assets have arisen, particularly since Rio offloaded the last of its coal operations in 2018.
Since Glencore’s 2024 proposition, Rio has experienced substantial change. After the chairman of Rio Tinto stated that he wanted a CEO who was more open to big acquisitions than Jakob Stausholm, who was in charge when the miner rejected Glencore’s approach in late 2024, Simon Trott was chosen.
Rio is concentrating on being smaller with fewer non-core assets under Trott, who took office as President in August. According to Andy Forster, senior investment officer of Rio Tinto shareholder Argo Investments, the deal made sense if the terms were favourable to both businesses.
Dubbed the world’s biggest mining deal, this merger is bound to raise concerns and criticisms. However, one thing remains certain- should both companies go through with the deal, it would drastically alter the mining sector’s landscape, and the newly formed company would be an industry force to be reckoned with.
