The world's fourth-most valuable mining company. Rio Tinto stopped mining coal in 2018. It runs the Bingham Canyon mine in Utah, which produces around 275,000 tonnes of copper a year, nearly a quarter of American output. The Resolution Copper mine in Arizona, a joint venture between Rio Tinto and BHP, could if approved meet another quarter of American demand.
Rio Tinto backs the Simandou iron-ore project in Guinea, one of the largest in the world, which finally started operations in November 2025 alongside several Chinese firms.
In January 2026 Rio Tinto confirmed talks to acquire Glencore, a Swiss-British competitor. The deal would create the world's biggest miner, worth around $220bn at current valuations. A combined entity would produce about 1.6m tonnes of copper a year, roughly 7% of total global mine output. Rio's share price fell 3% on the news, partly reflecting lingering questions about what it would do with Glencore's coal assets and trading business.
Alcohol is the anesthesia by which we endure the operation of life.