Takeovers, financings, listings and country risk in mining, dated and sourced. Each item says why it matters and links to the course module that explains it. New items are added every Monday.
Glencore said it was in preliminary talks with Rio Tinto about combining some or all of their businesses, possibly through an all-share merger. Any deal was expected to take the form of Rio acquiring Glencore by a scheme of arrangement. UK takeover rules gave Rio until 5 February to make an offer or walk away.
NovaAndino Litio, which takes over SQM’s operations in the Salar de Atacama, held its first board meeting. Under the agreed model the Chilean state will receive up to 70% of the operating margin on new production from 2025 to 2030, and up to 85% from 2031. Codelco chairs the board and SQM’s chief executive is vice-chair.
Jiangxi Copper, already SolGold’s largest shareholder, agreed to pay 28 pence a share, almost 43% above the price before its first approach in November. SolGold’s board had rejected two lower proposals. The prize is the Cascabel copper-gold project in Ecuador. The deal completed in March 2026.
Ottawa cleared the deal under the Investment Canada Act with binding commitments, including at least C$4.5bn of investment in Canada over five years. Shareholders of both companies had approved the merger on 9 December 2025.
CMOC agreed to pay $900m in cash at closing and up to $115m linked to production a year later for the Aurizona, RDM and Bahia mines. Equinox will focus on its Canadian mines, Greenstone and Valentine, and use the cash to cut debt.
Teck said 99.7% of votes cast by its Class A holders and 89.7% by its Class B holders backed the plan of arrangement, well above the two-thirds threshold for each class. Anglo shareholders approved the new share issue and the change of name to Anglo Teck. Regulatory approvals were still needed in several countries.
Barrick’s board authorised work on an IPO of a subsidiary holding its stakes in Nevada Gold Mines and Pueblo Viejo and the Fourmile discovery, while keeping control. In February 2026 Barrick confirmed the plan, aiming to complete the listing by the end of 2026, with New York as the main market.
Barrick agreed to pay 244bn CFA francs, about $430m, to end the two-year dispute that shut Loulo-Gounkoto, according to Bloomberg. Under the deal Mali drops the charges, releases the detained employees and hands back the mine, and Barrick withdraws its arbitration claim.
BHP said it was no longer considering a combination with Anglo after preliminary talks with Anglo’s board, two weeks before the vote on Anglo’s merger with Teck. BHP had walked away from a $49bn bid for Anglo in May 2024. UK takeover rules now bar it from bidding again for six months.
The High Court ruled that BHP is liable under Brazilian law for the 2015 failure of Samarco’s Fundão dam. The claimants’ lawyers had valued the case at up to £36bn. Damages will be set in later trials, and BHP’s attempts to appeal were refused in 2026.
New Gold holders were offered 0.4959 Coeur shares per share, valued at $8.51 or a 16% premium, implying about $7bn of equity value. The deal closed in March 2026.
Harmony bought 100% of MAC at $12.25 a share through a Jersey scheme of arrangement, an equity value of about $1.01bn. It paid with cash and a $1.25bn bridge loan, and now owns the CSA copper mine in New South Wales.
Spot silver hit $51.23 an ounce amid a squeeze in the London bullion market, its highest since the Hunt brothers’ squeeze of 1980. That took its gain for the year to nearly 70%, ahead of gold.
Gold broke through $4,000 an ounce, 36 days after passing $3,500, on strong investment demand, economic uncertainty and expected US rate cuts.
The US Department of Energy agreed to take a 5% stake in Lithium Americas and another 5% in its Thacker Pass joint venture with General Motors, through no-cost warrants. In return it eased the terms of its $2.26bn loan to the project. The shares jumped on the news.
The unit, which holds all of Zijin Mining’s gold mines outside China, sold 349 million shares at HK$71.59 each, the largest IPO of its kind in 2025. The shares rose as much as 66% on the first day.
Barrick said Bristow had left after nearly seven years in the job, which he took after the 2019 merger with Randgold. Mark Hill, who ran the Latin America and Asia-Pacific regions, became interim chief executive. Hill was confirmed in the role in February 2026.
About 800,000 tonnes of wet material flooded the Grasberg Block Cave mine in Indonesia on 8 September and trapped seven workers, who were later found dead. Freeport declared force majeure and said 2026 output at its Indonesian unit could be about 35% lower than planned. Its shares fell 10%, and copper prices rose to a 15-month high.
More than 99% of votes cast backed the scheme, giving Gold Fields full ownership of the Gruyere gold mine in Western Australia. The vote ended a long takeover battle between the former joint-venture partners.
The neighbouring Chilean mines will be run under one plan, adding about 2.7 million tonnes of copper over 21 years, or 120,000 tonnes a year, shared equally. The companies expect a pre-tax value uplift of at least $5bn with little new capital. Permits are expected in 2030.
Carcetti Capital, to be renamed Hemlo Mining Corp, agreed to pay $875m in cash, $50m in shares and up to $165m in payments linked to production and the gold price from 2027. Wheaton Precious Metals backed the buyer with a gold stream. Hemlo was Barrick’s last Canadian mine.
Teck holders would receive 1.3301 Anglo shares per share, with Anglo paying a $4.5bn special dividend before completion. Anglo holders would own about 62.4% of Anglo Teck, which targets about $800m of annual synergies.
Anglo placed about 52.2 million Valterra shares at R845 each through an accelerated bookbuild, raising R44.1bn, about $2.5bn. It had kept a 19.9% stake after the May demerger. Standard Bank called it the largest equity deal in the history of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
MAG holders received a total of $500m in cash and about 60.2 million Pan American shares, and now own about 14.3% of Pan American. The deal brings a 44% stake in the Juanicipio mine in Mexico, operated by Fresnillo, plus two exploration projects.
Peabody terminated the deal, arguing that the fire at Moranbah North was a material adverse change. Anglo American disputed that reading and said it would start arbitration to claim damages.
Mitsubishi will contribute $420m at closing for a 30% stake in the Arizona copper project and a further $180m within 18 months, and fund its share of future capital. Hudbay said the price implies a large premium to consensus net asset value for the project.
CATL, the world’s largest battery maker, shut the mine in Yichun, China, after its licence expired on 9 August and said it was seeking a renewal. Bank of America estimated the mine at about 6% of global lithium output. Lithium prices and miners’ shares rose sharply.
An earthquake triggered a collapse in the world’s largest underground copper mine in Chile, killing six people. Codelco suspended underground operations and later said the accident would cut its 2025 output.
President Trump had announced on 8 July a 50% tariff on copper imports, which sent New York copper futures to a record. The final order applied the tariff to semi-finished products only and left out refined cathode, the most imported form. Comex copper fell about 20% in an afternoon.
The US Department of Defense bought $400m of MP Materials preferred stock and agreed a 10-year floor price of $110 a kilogram for its neodymium-praseodymium output. The deal is part of a wider package to build a US supply chain for rare earth magnets. MP shares rose more than 50%.