The world's second-biggest miner is swiping right on Turquoise Hill, because it wants control of a Mongolian copper mine.
Background: Rio Tinto is the world's number two mining company, just behind BHP. They do all things iron ore, copper, uranium, gold... the whole shebang. But they ain't without controversy (Juukan Gorge, anyone?).
What happened: Rio wants to buy Canadian mining company Turquoise Hill, because it owns one of the world's biggest-known copper and gold deposits in Mongolia. It's offered the company $3.7 billion to buy a 49% stake (because it already owns the other 51%).
What else: Turquoise Hill will strengthen Rio Tinto's position when it comes to future-facing commodities.
💡With fossil fuels on their way out, big mining companies are racing towards future-facing commodities. These are commodities that will be valuable in the shift to renewables, like nickel and copper.
💡 Copper conducts electricity, bends easily and is recyclable, which makes it a really critical material for renewables, like electric vehicles.
💡But there ain't that many new copper deposits out there, which means miners are finding it tough to get their hands on.
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