Glencore eyes $2.4b copper push
Vale Base Metals and Glencore Canada have agreed to jointly evaluate a potential brownfield copper development in Canada’s Sudbury Basin.
The move comes as copper prices soar, driven by supply crunches, an anticipated shortage and uncertainty as US tariffs loom.
The companies plan to leverage Glencore’s existing infrastructure at its Nickel Rim South mine, deepening the existing mine shaft and developing new drifts to tap nearby copper deposits.
The operation could yield 880kt of copper over 21 years with a capital cost of about $2.4b (US$1.6b). A final investment decision is expected in H1 CY27.
Glencore is focused heavily on copper. At the miner’s 2025 Capital Markets Day, the company unveiled plans to sharply raise output with a pathway to produce about 1mt by 2029 and 1.6mt by 2035, up from 850,000–875,000t in 2025.
Glencore chief executive Gary Nagle says that since the company’s last Capital Markets Day in 2022, the miner has made significant progress on de-risking copper portfolio.
“These projects are mostly brownfield and expected to be highly capital efficient,” he said.
“We have a clear pathway for our base copper business to exceed 1mt off annual production by the end of 2028, with a target to produce [about] 1.6mt by 2035, which would make Glencore one of the largest copper producers in the world.
“We have already taken key steps on this journey, including the submission of our Argentinian RIGI applications in August and our decision to restart the Alumbrera copper-gold operation in Argentina which we are announcing today.
“Copper has a critical role to play. When combined with the need for higher prices to stimulate the significant required investment in copper mine supply, our strategic portfolio of copper assets and projects are well positioned to help meet this supply challenge.”
This follows a surge in copper prices fuelled by supply disruptions, soaring demand from electric vehicles and data-centre buildouts, and mounting concern over trade policy.
Copper prices in the US are around US$5.3/lb, their highest level in four months and reached a record peak on the London Metal Exchange due to supply constraints including planned cuts by Chinese smelters.
Uncertainty is also fuelling the run, with many anticipating future tariffs from the US.
In July 2025, the US Government announced it would impose a universal 50% tariffs on imports of semi-finished copper products and copper-intensive derivative products effective August 1.
The US Government is now reviewing whether to extend the tariff to refined copper products.