Mining and metals

Our copper commodity department is run as an integrated business from production through to global marketing. Our global presence enables us to source commodities from all key producing regions and have relationships with major consumers across the world.

We are one of the world’s largest copper producers and we are present in the major copper-producing regions, including the Cuzco region of southern Peru, the Andean Plateau of northern Chile and the African copper belts of Northern Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as Canada, Australia and Argentina.

We market zinc, and lead concentrates, raw materials used to produce zinc and lead, as well as valuable by-products such as gold and silver, which are typically mined in conjunction with zinc, copper and lead ores, as well as sulphuric acid, a by-product of the smelting process. In addition, we are engaged in the sale of the zinc and lead metals produced from concentrates processed through facilities owned by our subsidiaries and through facilities owned by others through tolling arrangements. We also market zinc and lead metals purchased from third parties. We have a global presence and source commodities from all key producing regions and has relationships with major consumers across the world.

We are one of the world’s largest miners and producers of zinc with operations in Spain, Germany, Australia, the UK, Africa, Canada, Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Kazakhstan and Italy.

Our alumina/aluminium commodity department is involved in the production of primary aluminium and are also large scale participants in the marketing of both aluminium and alumina sourced from world markets as well as from our owned industrial assets.

The supply sources and customer bases are highly diversified, and demonstrate our reputation for strong relationships in both markets. We optimise the production systems of numerous integrated aluminium and alumina producers (including those owned via our subsidiaries) through the physical exchange of bauxite and alumina of varying origins. Our breadth of experience and integrated role in production enables us to provide market-leading expertise in the flow of these commodities.

We market bulk ferroalloys (ferrochrome, ferromanganese, silicon manganese, and ferrosilicon), noble ferroalloys (vanadium and molybdenum), ores (chrome and manganese) and cobalt. The customer base is geographically diverse and consists of, inter alia, large multinational European, American and Asian businesses across the carbon, stainless steel and other special steel industries. Most products are sold to end users, although a small portion is sold to intermediaries.

The PGM concentrates we produce are sold to smelters and refineries in South Africa.

We are amongst the world’s lowest cost integrated ferrochrome producers, one of the largest producers of primary vanadium and a growing producer of manganese ferroalloys following the recent purchase of Vale’s manganese operations in France and Norway. We also own carbon operations that supply key raw materials to its ferrochrome production operations.

We produce and market nickel and cobalt metal (including nickel and cobalt concentrates, intermediates and ferronickel), as well as producing the associated by-products which include copper, precious metals and platinum group metals. Our customer base is geographically diverse and consists of European, American and Asian businesses across the stainless steel, carbon steel and other special steel industries as well as a host of other end consumers in a range of industries including electro plating, aerospace, nuclear and the energy sectors.

We are a leading global nickel producer and one of the world’s largest producers of cobalt. Our operations include mines and processing facilities in Canada, the Dominican Republic, Australia and New Caledonia, and a refinery in Norway.

We market iron ore through physical transactions with a geographically diverse customer base, which consists of large multinational European, American and Asian businesses across the carbon and other special steel industries. We sell most products to end users, but a small portion is sold to intermediaries.

We have growing iron ore production options through development projects in Mauritania and the Republic of Congo.