Mark Bristow, one of the mining industry’s most prolific dealmakers, has warned that M&A will do nothing to grow the supply of copper that the world needs to go green, as sector leader BHP pursues a £31bn mega-deal for Anglo American.
The chief executive of Barrick Gold said miners needed to invest more in exploring for and developing new deposits of the world’s most important industrial metal — needed for power lines, data centres and electric cars — as he dismissed making a rival bid for Anglo American or First Quantum, another copper producer.
Bristow told the Financial Times that the BHP approach for Anglo “reinforces that the industry needs investment in its future”. He added that “you can consolidate but it doesn’t build the production profile. On consolidation, you can always reduce production.”