Glencore (LON: GLEN) could complicate Anglo American’s efforts to capture the biggest gains from its $53-billion merger with Teck (TSX: TECK.A TECK.B, NYSE: TECK) as the miners negotiate how to combine neighbouring copper operations in Chile.
Anglo and Glencore are discussing integrating parts of Collahuasi copper mine in Chile, where each owns 44%, with Teck’s nearby Quebrada Blanca complex. Anglo hopes to close its merger with Teck as soon as next month, pending Chinese regulatory approval.
“The industrial logic of combining Collahuasi and Quebrada Blanca is undeniable,” Anglo CEO Duncan Wanblad said in a conference call last year. He estimated an agreement with Glencore could add $1.4 billion in annual earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.
Extracting those gains will require Anglo-Teck to establish the relative value of the assets, how an integrated operation would work and how the resulting benefits would be divided.
The companies are studying the construction of a 15-kilometre conveyor to link Collahuasi’s high-grade ore to QB’s processing facilities, adding the equivalent of a new mine’s output. The system is projected to deliver an extra 175,000 tonnes of copper per year between 2030 and 2049, at lower costs and shorter timelines than a standalone development.
Hard bargain
Glencore “understands there is some real economic value to go after and is likely to play hardball,” a top Anglo investor quoted by Financial Times on Sunday said. “I don’t expect it to be smooth and easy. Glencore is in the stronger bargaining position.”
Analyst agree on that the Swiss miner is likely to demand a hefty price in negotiations over the assets’ relative valuations and management of the combined operations.
Wanblad said in July that discussions were “in progress.”
“Everybody will be looking to make sure we’ve got the right valuations,” he said. “All of us have to get an alignment on that in the first instance and then work out how we distribute the synergy value between us.”
Glencore declined a MINING.COM request for comments.
The talks come as the world’s largest diversified miners compete for greater exposure to copper, which is expected to face long-term supply constraints as demand grows from power grids and other industries.
Copper-focused miners also command higher valuations than companies with broader commodity portfolios.
That appetite helped drive BHP’s rejected takeover approaches for Anglo in 2024 and in 2025 and unsuccessful merger discussions between Rio Tinto (ASX. LON: RIO) and Glencore earlier this year. Copper overtook iron ore as BHP’s biggest profit contributor for the first time this month.
Copper prices approached record levels again this month after mine disruptions tightened supplies and large volumes flowed into the US ahead of possible import tariffs.
Copper strength
Anglo’s growing copper exposure marks a sharp turnaround from two years ago, when declining earnings and questions about its sprawling portfolio left the company vulnerable to BHP’s approach.
The takeover attempt accelerated Wanblad’s restructuring plan to focus Anglo on copper, iron ore and crop nutrients. The company has since spun off its platinum business and found buyers for its coal and nickel units.
Sales and earnings from continuing operations in the first half of 2026 exceeded comparable pro forma results for the same periods in 2024 and 2025. Copper generated almost three-quarters of earnings this year, compared with less than a third in the first half of 2023, although the increase largely reflected higher prices rather than production growth.
The turnaround has strengthened Wanblad’s standing with shareholders.
The performance is a “vindication for the board and also for Duncan,” Adam Matthews, chief responsible investment officer at the Church of England Pensions Board, an Anglo shareholder, told FT. “He got put in a tough spot. But I think Duncan is in a far strengthened position.”
Completing the Teck merger would further transform Anglo into a copper heavyweight, but realizing one of its most valuable opportunities depends on negotiations with Glencore.
“The unknown is Glencore,” George Cheveley, portfolio manager at Anglo shareholder Ninety One, told FT. “There’s a negotiation to be had.”
How those talks play out could also shape what comes next for Anglo-Teck. Investors continue to speculate that BHP could eventually return with an offer for the combined miner, although new CEO Brandon Craig has signalled a different course, saying BHP is focused on its “major organic growth” strategy.
