A string of reserve upgrades in South America at the end of last year gave Glencore a much-needed tailwind, said CEO Gary Nagle as he seeks to reverse a multi-year slump in copper output.
Nagle said in the group’s full-year production report that its recent exploration efforts had yielded “notable increases” at its mines in Peru, Chile, Argentina and the US.
The boost to Glencore’s portfolio may offer a crucial lifeline in Nagle’s drive to lift annual output back above 1-million tonnes a year after the miner’s copper output fell for a fourth straight year, and is now more than 40% below 2018 levels.
Nagle’s aggressive turnaround plan, detailed at the group’s London investor day in December, saw it slashing 1,000 jobs last year in a bid to cut costs by $1bn a year and streamline its operations.
Pressure on the group to bolster its portfolio has been mounting as operational underperformance and disruptions saw its share price slump to four-year lows in early 2025. Nagle hopes to regain leverage as he navigates a mega merger by reviving the mining heavyweight’s market value.
The share price decline has helped shift the balance of power in Glencore’s talks with rival Rio Tinto in the two mining giants’ 14-year tug of war over a potential merger to create the world’s largest mining company with a combined market value of nearly $207bn.
Earlier this month, Rio Tinto announced it was in talks to buy Glencore, flipping the script after the latter failed twice at its own takeover bids in 2014 and 2024.
Soaring copper prices have offered some reprieve from the investor pressure. In the past six months, the group’s JSE-listed shares have climbed more than 50% as global miners scramble to secure copper supplies ahead of a supply crunch.
Glencore reported an 11% drop in copper production to 851,600 tonnes after setbacks at the Chilean Collahuasi mine, which it jointly owns with Anglo American, earlier in the year.
Zinc production was up 7% year on year at 969,400 tonnes, thanks primarily to higher grades at Antamina.
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