London, June 18, 2026, 09:29 BST
- Rio Tinto slipped 1.9% to 7,674 pence as of 09:27 BST.
- Oyu Tolgoi said copper-concentrate shipments are back to normal levels after a brief road blockade.
- Shares in Anglo American, Glencore and Antofagasta dropped, as London-listed miners came under renewed pressure.
Rio Tinto shares slipped Thursday morning in London, with the stock down 1.7% at about 7,694 pence just after 09:10 BST. It opened at 7,750 pence. This came even after the company’s Oyu Tolgoi division restarted copper-concentrate shipments from Mongolia, which had paused due to a short protest.
The restart eased the short-term risk for deliveries but did little to resolve the bigger issue at one of Rio’s key growth sites. Copper concentrate is ore that’s been processed and shipped to smelters. Oyu Tolgoi sits at the heart of Rio’s strategy to boost copper production with expectations for rising demand from EVs, power grids and data centres.
Rio Tinto CEO Simon Trott said in April the mine is “continuing to ramp up as planned”. First-quarter copper output at Rio rose 9% to 229,000 tonnes, with higher volumes from the Mongolia site. Moneyweb
The blockade started at 9 a.m. local time Wednesday on the road heading from the mine to the Chinese border. Oyu Tolgoi said the action threatens its contractual obligations and could hurt Mongolia’s budget and position with global investors. Rio did not offer more comment.
Commodities weighed on the shares as copper futures fell under $6.40 a pound, down roughly 1.3%. Losses came after shipments restarted and after the U.S. Federal Reserve kept rates unchanged, but said rate hikes could still come in 2026. Higher rates may hit economic growth and buoy the dollar, both usually bad news for industrial metals.
FTSE 100 fell 0.65% to 10,439.93 a little after 09:05 BST, giving back some of Wednesday’s gains. The index had risen 0.14% in the last session, lifted by miners.
Oyu Tolgoi is still a political flashpoint. Rio Tinto owns 66%, Mongolia has 34%. Locals have pushed for more of the project’s returns and faster dividend payouts. Underground output is set to make the mine one of the world’s biggest copper sites.
Mongolia in March pushed to lower the interest rate on its project loan from over 11% to under 6%, also looking to cut management fees. Rio said it was holding talks with the government. The report pointed to the risk of a higher export tax if negotiations failed.
Copper is still trading high enough to back Rio’s earnings. But the outlook isn’t fixed. Goldman Sachs in April stuck to its 2026 average-price call at $12,650 a tonne, seeing a 490,000-tonne surplus. The bank also flagged supply risks. That means Rio faces exposure to both supply hits and a possible drop in copper prices.
Still, getting things running again doesn’t mean risks are gone. If the blockade returns, export rules get tougher, or if politics drag out, Rio could face higher costs or delays. A steeper fall in copper would hurt the division that’s set to bring in about 30% of group earnings in 2025. Focus now is whether trucking stays on track and talks with Ulaanbaatar don’t escalate.
