Background: Rio Tinto is the heavyweight champ of iron ore. Founded in 1873, it’s the world’s largest iron ore miner and also produces copper, aluminium and critical minerals. It’s dual-listed on the ASX and London Stock Exchange, with a market value north of $200 billion. Glencore, meanwhile, is the Anglo-Swiss giant that blends commodity trading with mining, spanning coal, copper, zinc, nickel and more.

What happened: Last week, Rio Tinto and Glencore confirmed they’re in early-stage talks about a potential merger. If it goes ahead, it would create a $300 billion+ mining behemoth. But the whole market weren’t exactly cheering. Glencore shares jumped 6%, while Rio Tinto’s stock slid more than 6%.

What else: This is actually the third time Rio and Glencore have circled a merger. The difference now? New leadership at Rio… and a renewed obsession with one very old mineral: copper.

What's the key learning

💡Copper is having its moment in the sun. Not because it looks good, but because EVs, renewables, data centres and AI all rely on it. Global copper demand could rise around 50% by 2040, while supply is struggling to keep up.

💡For Rio Tinto, copper offers long-term upside that traditional commodities no longer provide. Glencore already has significant copper exposure.

💡Buying copper assets is faster than building them. New copper projects are expensive, slow and often politically complex, which is why acquisitions that once seemed unattractive are now back in play.