Glencore's 2025 Copper Production Falls Despite Second-Half Recovery

By Adam Whittaker

Glencore's full-year copper production slumped on lower ore grades and recoveries despite a second-half recovery in output.

The Anglo-Swiss commodity mining and trading company said it had produced 851,600 metric tons of copper in 2025, an 11% fall from the prior year. Production in the second-half of the year was almost 50% above that of the first six months due to a rise in ore grades and recoveries at several of its mines, Glencore said.

The company is currently holding talks with Rio Tinto on a possible combination of some or all of their businesses. This includes a potential all-share takeover of Glencore by the dual-listed miner.

Copper is at the heart of the transaction. Combined, they could create the world's largest mining company with a market value of more than $200 billion and the industry's biggest copper business, which would control nearly one-tenth of global output.

The miner said that the on-year fall in production of the industrial metal was due to lower grades and recoveries following mine sequencing--which refers to the order in which an area is mined--.

Gold production fell 18%, it said. Meanwhile, steelmaking coal production was 63% higher on year at 32.5 million tons after getting a boost from the Elk Valley Resources business, which Glencore acquired in July 2024.

Zinc production came to 969,400 tons.

Write to Adam Whittaker at adam.whittaker@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 29, 2026 02:47 ET (07:47 GMT)