NewsBite

Copper

February

The Escondida mine in Chile is one of the largest copper mines in the world.

Left out of BHP’s $4.4b copper deal, NGEx courts Aussie fundies

This type of charm offensive is typically a precursor to a deal – often a secondary listing or capital raising.

Rio TInto boss Jakob Stausholm has the company’s various profit engines firing.

Rio Tinto just pulled off a little miracle

Rio CEO Jakob Stausholm has quietly engineered an impressive strategic shift inside the mining giant. Its financial results for calendar 2024 tell the story. 

BHP’s headquarters in Melbourne. The company has focused more on its copper operations and less on iron ore.

BHP dividend slumps to eight-year low amid slowing Chinese demand

The iron ore mining giant is instead spending more money on developing new operations, focusing on in-demand commodities like copper and potash.

Mike Henry is leading a startling shift in BHP”s profit drivers.

There’s a revolution going on inside BHP

Chief executive Mike Henry has been telling us for years that the Big Australian has to change. The turning point has now arrived.

Arnaud Soirat of Rio Tinto.

Internal files show Rio had early warning of Oyu Tolgoi blowouts

The mining giant held an “urgent” crisis meeting into a nine-month delay on its copper project in the same week it told investors it on was on schedule.

Advertisement
Olympic Dam in South Australia is a major copper production hub for BHP. But it also produces a significant amount of uranium and gold.

BHP buoys uranium bulls with plans for small increase in production

Investors had feared the mining giant would create significantly more supply when it expanded production of copper in Olympic Dam. It says it will not.

January

Rio Tinto has offered the Mongolian government $295 million to settle a long-running tax dispute over the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine.

Rio Tinto offers $472m to settle Mongolian mine tax dispute

The miner is hoping the deal will settle the Oyu Tolgoi tax stoush as it ties up loose ends over its copper bet amid the Glencore merger speculation.

Culturally, jamming Rio Tinto and Glencore together would be a challenge. Glencore talks tough while Rio, particularly under Jakob Stausholm’s leadership, is trying to be softer.

$260b Rio Tinto, Glencore mega-deal would sideline Australia

Follow the money, and it’s hard to see how this mining merger would say much good about Australia’s future.

China authorities are aiming to reduce leverage in the over-indebted property and construction sectors where some of the country’s biggest companies are teetering. Those sectors are the biggest sources of demand for steel.

The China commodities super-cycle is over. Will there be another boom?

China’s massive industrialisation and urbanisation drove a huge commodities boom that has run its course, but some executives are hopeful it will be replaced.

In 2019, Rio’s former global head of major projects, David Joyce asked a subordinate to “limit” his updates on problems at the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine in Mongolia.

Rio bosses asked staff to ‘limit’ emailing news of cost blowout

Internal documents provided to a New York court suggest the company pushed discussions about the troubled Oyu Tolgoi project onto encrypted messaging platforms.

Resources funds are ready to bounce back.

Resources fundies reveal top picks ahead of ‘stellar’ 2025

Some portfolio managers are chasing the elusive surge in copper stocks or braving the lithium sector, while others plan to ride the rally in bauxite and silver prices.

Why the US wants BHP and Rio to get crazy rich in the Congo

BHP and Rio Tinto see just one problem with the big new copper mine Robert Friedland has built in the DRC. But the US government reckons it has the solution

December 2024

Vanadium batteries are good for stationary energy storage.

Japanese giant buys Aussie battery start-up in coal to minerals pivot

Idemitsu has taken majority control of Vecco Group as it tries to move towards investments in critical minerals and energy storage.

Bougainville Revolutionary Army guerrillas stand guard above the Panguna mine in 1994. 

Rio’s abandoned copper mine ‘life-threatening’ to Bougainville locals

The Panguna copper mine in Bougainville continues to generate toxic waste and may spark landslides that could kill people and cause lasting ecological damage.

Flotation cells inside the concentrator at the Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia. The mine is central to Rio Tinto’s efforts to diversify away from iron ore.

Rio Tinto outlines 40pc surge in copper as it pivots from iron ore

The mining giant told investors Australian iron ore would provide just over half of its future earnings, down significantly from its current dominant role.

Advertisement
Peter Albert, CEO of copper miner 29Metals.

Under pressure miners 29Metals, Titan Minerals launch equity raisings

The two copper miners were in front of investors on Tuesday seeking fresh funds, as their share prices continue to fall.

November 2024

Carnaby kicks off $15m raise to fund acquisition; Glencore cornerstone

Street Talk understands Euroz Hartleys was offering fund managers shares at 31¢ a piece.

True North will shift its focus from mining to exploration.

Ex Glencore traders outmanoeuvre Swiss juggernaut at True North Copper

Stockbrokers Canaccord Genuity and Morgans have underwritten the deal which will see True North sell shares at a whopping 83.3 per cent discount to raise $50 million to $60 million.

Hayden Locke is the CEO of Maramaca Copper.

Canadian miner Marimaca Copper taps advisers for ASX debut

The company’s Hayden Locke-led management team is yet to decide if it wants to raise fresh equity as part of the ASX listing or defer it to a later date.

There’s a dearth of copper exposures on the ASX.

Craving copper? $502m miner Marimaca preps ASX listing

Sources said CEO Hayden Locke has been encouraged by TSX-listed $C7.5 billion Capstone Copper’s ASX listing earlier this year and sees it as a template for Marimaca.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/copper-huy