The selection of a new director for the mining company Rio Tinto, following the sudden resignation of Jakob Stausholm, will likely depend on how “aggressive” the future manager will be in searching for copper, a resource that is becoming increasingly scarce, reported Nova ekonomija. Rio Tinto Dunav Exploration has been cooperating with Chinese partners in Bor, Serbia, where a new copper deposit was recently discovered.
Currently, Rio Tinto Exploration Dunav does not hold mineral exploration permits in Serbia and thus is not conducting field activities. However, the company is considering all opportunities to explore copper deposits both in Serbia and the wider region. As a non-operational partner with the Chinese company Zijin Mining, Rio Tinto participates in mineral exploration in parts of eastern Serbia.
Rio Tinto Group established Rio Tinto Exploration Dunav in April 2018 for mineral exploration, while another subsidiary, Rio Sava Exploration, focuses solely on developing the Jadar deposit. The company aims to establish a mine after completing exploration, as reported by Forbes in December 2024.
Nova ekonomija warns that Serbia could become a “small battlefield of global scale” in the coming years due to the race for Serbian copper. The state has largely focused on selling mining rights to foreign investors rather than managing its key resources directly, leaving profit mainly to existing mining companies.
Economics professor Ljubodrag Savić from the University of Belgrade commented that leadership changes in large corporations like Rio Tinto do not usually affect long-term strategies, which are planned over decades. He highlighted a recent discovery near the Čukaru Peki mine in Bor by the Chinese company Zijin Mining, which identified 2.81 million tons of copper reserves with an average grade of 1.87%, and 92 tons of gold with an average grade of 0.61 grams per ton, with significant potential for further geological exploration.
It remains unclear if Rio Tinto is involved in this project, as a newly established company, Malka Golaja Mining, is 95% owned by Zijin Mining, with the remaining 5% owned by Sino-Zijin Resources, a Zijin group subsidiary focused on geological research. Given the global copper demand and Serbia’s known reserves, Rio Tinto might eventually participate in these operations.
Fitch agency revised its copper price forecast for 2024 upward from $8,500 to $8,800 per ton. Currently, copper trades around $9,492.7 per ton on global commodity markets. The firm expects a balanced global copper market in the short to medium term, driven by continued demand growth from China, which accounts for nearly 60% of global refined copper consumption. Meanwhile, the U.S. reassesses its energy transition strategies, potentially increasing regional market differences.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on copper in May, which may cause further price adjustments this year.
Copper remains a vital and classic metal, unlike rare metals that are emerging globally. Serbia produced 140,000 tons of copper in 1988 when the price was around €11,000–11,500 per ton.
Nova ekonomija concludes that Serbia is likely to witness a global-scale battle over copper resources, with the main question being whether Chinese companies or the Australian-British consortium will continue mining and exporting copper from the country.
