Rio Tinto chief executive Jakob Stausholm wants to expand the company’s lithium and copper divisions at a time when investors are increasingly supportive of deals and his big mining rivals are consolidating.

Fresh from reporting a $US5.75 billion ($8.9 billion) half-year profit, Mr Stausholm said Rio had reached an “inflection point” as internal growth projects such as Mongolia’s Oyu Tolgoi copper mine and Argentina’s Rincon lithium approached important delivery milestones.