Mining Giant Rio Tinto Reports Disappointing Annual Results Despite Copper Gains

Global mining company Rio Tinto announced Thursday that its yearly profits remained stagnant and fell short of analyst predictions. While the company's copper operations performed strongly, declining iron ore prices weighed down overall performance.

Mining heavyweight Rio Tinto delivered disappointing annual financial results on Thursday, with profits remaining unchanged from the previous year despite strong performance in its copper operations.

The global mining giant, recognized as the world’s top iron ore producer, announced underlying profits of $10.87 billion for the year ending December 31. This figure matched the previous year’s earnings but came in below analyst forecasts of $11.03 billion.

The company announced it would pay shareholders a final dividend of 254 cents per share, representing 60% of underlying profits and an increase from the 225 cents distributed in 2024.

Trading in London saw Rio Tinto shares drop 3.4% by mid-morning, performing slightly worse than other mining companies in the market.

The earnings report underscores the mining industry’s growing emphasis on copper production as demand surges from artificial intelligence data centers and renewable energy infrastructure development.

This strategic shift toward copper has sparked numerous acquisition attempts throughout the mining sector as companies compete for long-term copper assets.

Rio Tinto’s potential merger discussions with Glencore fell apart in February when both companies couldn’t reach agreement on company valuation and control structure. The failed deal would have formed the world’s biggest publicly traded mining operation and substantially increased copper production capacity.

Competitor BHP, the world’s largest publicly listed mining company, reported earlier this week that copper revenues exceeded iron ore income for the first time in company history.

“A good result, perhaps as not as impressive as BHP, particularly with capital liberation,” said Andy Forster of Argo Investments in Sydney, commenting on Rio’s asset divestiture strategy.

Both mining leaders have committed to liquidating existing assets to generate funds for reinvestment and shareholder returns. BHP announced this week a $4.3 billion agreement with Wheaton Precious Metals for future silver production from a Peruvian mining operation.

Rio Tinto revealed it is exploring market interest in selling its titanium and borates business units while examining opportunities to monetize portions of its infrastructure holdings across all operational divisions.

“Without M&A, we expect freed up cash to be used to strengthen Rio’s balance sheet and maintain returns within its 40-60% dividend payout range,” analysts at Jefferies said.

Iron ore earnings dropped to approximately 60% of total company profits, declining from 70% in the previous year. Meanwhile, copper division earnings doubled annually to represent roughly 30% of total profits, with aluminum and lithium operations accounting for the remaining portion.

The iron ore business faced challenges from increased annual production costs at the company’s Pilbara operations in Western Australia, rising about $0.50 per metric ton compared to 2024 due to inflation and weather-related operational interruptions.

Pilbara production costs are projected to climb further this year, reaching between $23.50 and $25 per ton.

The copper division reported average selling prices increased 17% year-over-year in 2025, while production volume grew 11% from 2024, boosted by expanded operations at the Oyu Tolgoi facility in Mongolia.