New trade architectures are emerging with mining companies on all sides of the value chain forging alliances, executing strategic moves to consolidate regional commodity control, and inking deals in pursuit of growth.
As the energy transition gathers momentum and technological development continues disrupting the mining and metals sector, companies are scrutinising their asset base and capital allocation strategies to rebalance portfolios, identify expansion opportunities, and take leading roles on the road towards decarbonisation.
The resources sector must invest at least US$2.1 trillion ($3.2 trillion) by 2050 to meet rising demand, according to EY’s M&A and Capital Raising 2024 Trends and 2025 Outlook. This is driving urgency and M&A premiums for proven, near-term producing assets.
A tighter capital raising market and evolving market dynamics is creating both challenges and opportunities for resources companies undertaking inorganic expansionary strategies.
Looking ahead to 2030, most deal activity is set to target assets tied to energy transition demand – electric vehicles, batteries, renewable-grid electrification. That means critical minerals-led M&A will feature copper, graphite, lithium, nickel, and rare earths to name a few.
“The transition to a low-carbon future demands that mining and metals companies reshape their role in what will be a new energy world. Bolder strategies that embrace digital innovation can help overcome productivity and cost pressures, create long-term value and secure a stronger LTO (long-term outlook),” global consultancy firm EY reports.
The dealmaking landscape is emerging with a composition of buyers such as mining majors, sovereign/strategic investors, and supply chain players seeking upstream control.
The universe of buyers will further include private equity firms, which are now pursuing entry opportunities to operate mining and metals assets.
This private capital trend began its emergence several years ago with PE deal activity increasing by 463% between Q2 2023 and Q2 2024. The largest disclosed PE deal being the US$1.9 billion acquisition of U.S. Silica by Apollo Funds, which is managed by Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO).
Earlier this month, Apollo completed the acquisition of Bridge Investment Group in an all-stock transaction. As a platform within Apollo’s asset management business, Bridge will retain its existing brand, management and investment teams and dedicated capital formation team.
Private capital is already playing a significant part in Australian coal divestments, with large private Chinese, Indonesian, and Russian companies acquiring the thermal and coking coal assets that are being recycled out of major producers’ portfolios. For example, Indonesia’s Golden Energy and Resources and partner M Resources acquired the coal business of Australia’s South32 (ASX:S32) for US$1.65 billion.
Shifting focus
Tracking trends in 2025, Deloitte’s report Leading through transformational change in mining and metals, illustrates the complexities of navigating geopolitical matters, causing dislocation of marketplaces, supply chains, and trade partners.
For instance, the past 15 years has seen a fivefold increase in export controls on critical minerals globally as geopolitical competition builds. Deloitte reports growing investor activism is encouraging miners to address underperforming assets and divest those considered non-core.
“The net zero agenda continues to fuel mergers and acquisitions, as well as divestments to transition organisations to environmentally sustainable portfolios,” Deloitte says.
John Diasselliss, Deloitte & Touche Principal, Mining Leader, believes the resources sector is seeing increasing shifts in focus from traditional products, such as iron ore, to newer ones, including critical minerals.
“Various countries are each offering a range of industry incentives to help their country counter critical mineral supply chain security implications and make the metal ecosystem less vulnerable to risk and disruption,” Diasselliss says.
“The US, China, India, and the EU – among others – are prime examples of countries enacting their own critical minerals strategies.
“The net zero agenda continues to fuel mergers and acquisitions, as well as divestments to transition organisations to environmentally sustainable portfolios”
“Intergovernmental relationships have also been formed, such as the Minerals Security Partnership (MSP), which includes the EU and 14 member countries (including Australia, Canada, the UK, Germany, and Japan, to name a few), to build out and diversify global supply chains.”
Amid this backdrop, industry sources say it’s important to understand the dynamics of business ecosystems within the resources sector. Companies operate within these to deliver value to markets, yet for many, these ecosystems have evolved organically without significant planning.
Miners are systematically assessing different types of growth opportunities within the ecosystems in which they operate and want to participate to capitalise on the advantages they can offer.
Given the urgency of the energy transition and the criticality of minerals and metals to its delivery, Deloitte suggests a more intentional or purpose-driven approach to ecosystem participation (or creation) could help accelerate important developments and uncover opportunities for enhanced efficiencies at the value chain level through industrial symbiosis.
Dealing with change
Heading into 2026, market observers expect large-scale consolidation as majors chase scale, cost synergies, and access to large copper and battery metal inventories.
This shift is already happening. In mid-September 2025, Anglo American (LSE:AAL) and Teck Resources (TSX:TECK.A) agreed to a merger that is expected to offer more than 70% exposure to copper, creating a new entity valued at more than US$50 billion.
Teck CEO Jonathan Price says the proposed merger creates a global critical minerals company and a top five global copper producer with assets across Canada, US, Latin America, and southern Africa.
“It is a natural progression of our strategy and portfolio simplification, which created a platform to enable exactly this sort of transformative transaction,” Price says.
Mining giants are likely to continue rebalancing their portfolios through non-core divestitures in parallel to their acquisitive strategies.
Anglo American is again a prime example. In May 2024, the behemoth announced its intention to divest its metallurgical coal business to focus on copper and iron ore, in a move it said was critical for delivering products aimed at the energy transition.
Similarly in the month prior, the BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA), which is a metallurgical coal joint venture in Queensland between BHP (ASX:BHP) and Mitsubishi Development, divested two operating mines – Blackwater and Daunia for US$4.3 billion.
BMA’s rationale to undertake the transaction is from seeking to optimise its portfolio composition as part of a proactive strategy pivoting towards higher quality metallurgical coal. The deal enabled BHP to reallocate resources toward its core growth areas, such as future-facing commodities like copper.
M&A momentum: Deal rationale
So what exactly is M&A – and why pursue it?
Mergers and acquisitions are the different ways companies combine through an inorganic growth strategy. Entire companies or their major business assets, including mining projects and operations, are consolidated through financial transactions between two or more entities.
The rationale behind pursuing M&A varies depending on individual business needs, however there are some common reasons.
The most used word in dealmaking is synergy. This is the notion that by combining business activities or assets, performance will be enhanced and costs will decrease. Essentially, a company will attempt to merge with another business that has complementary strengths and weaknesses.
Oftentimes, synergistic deals between companies in the same industry or market segment are called bolt-on acquisitions. These tend to be less risky and are in contrast to primary acquisitions, which are generally in different industries, require larger investment, and are of similar size to the acquirer.
As a recent example, Metal Bank (ASX:MBK) in September 2025 signed a non-binding agreement to acquire gold assets from Hastings Technology Metals (ASX:HAS), including the Whiteheads Project, to expand its Western Australia-focused gold strategy. Hastings is selling its Western Australian assets for $2.3 million in shares, each priced at $0.014.
Diversification or sharpening focus
Another reason companies may embark on M&A is diversification – or sharpening its business focus.
Businesses seeking to sharpen focus often merge with or do deals with companies that have deeper market penetration in a key area of operation.
While seemingly conflicting goals, a company that merges to diversify may acquire another business or asset in a somewhat unrelated industry or market segment in order to reduce the impact of a particular industry’s performance on profitability.
For instance, Premier1 Lithium (ASX:PLC) this month executed a non-binding letter of intent with Mineral Mining Services (MMS) for a development partnership over the Wadgingarra gold prospect’s resource area and a drill-for-equity agreement in Western Australia.
The LoI establishes a framework to progress Wadingarra towards development and provides a potential funding pathway for drilling, while aligning Premier1 with an experienced mining services provider.
Over the past year, Premier1 has been positioning to take advantage of the strong long-term fundamentals of the gold and copper markets, while also still not losing sight of the lithium potential, as reported. While lithium remains important to the junior explorer, the company concedes it is difficult to justify significant lithium exploration expenditure in the current environment.
Recently speaking to Mining.com.au, Managing Director Jason Froud says gold and copper on the other hand provide the strongest uplift from exploration success for Premier1.
Growth opportunities
Another prime reason to pursue a merger or acquisition is as common as it is obvious – growth.
M&A can give the acquiring company – also known as the suitor – an opportunity to expand market share or dominance without having to do the hard work themselves by instead, buying a competitor’s business and market exposure for a price. These are also called horizontal mergers.
The latest example of this is Rapid Critical Metals (ASX:RCM) yesterday (29 September) announcing a sale and purchase agreement to acquire a whole stake in the Webbs Consol Silver Project in northeast New South Wales from Lode Resources (ASX:LDR).
Rapid Critical Metals Managing Director Byron Miles says the transaction increases the company’s scale while consolidating one of the highest-grade silver projects in Australia.
Lode will retain a 2% net smelter return royalty over products sourced from the project, which Rapid will be eligible to purchase back for a cash payment of $2 million.
Lode Executive Chairman Andrew Van Heyst adds it is a win-win for both companies, as Lode intends shifting its focus to the Montezuma and Magwood assets, both within the New England Ford Belt of New South Wales.
Consolidating control
Similarly, M&A is sometimes pursued to eliminate competition or consolidate control in order to retain a company’s place in the market. These deals allow the acquirer to wipe out future or emerging competition in order to gain larger market share.
The downside is that oftentimes, a large premium is required to convince the target’s shareholders to accept these types of offers.
One example of this came in June 2025 when Australian Gold and Copper (ASX:AGC) made a strategic move to consolidate control over the south Cobar Basin, inking a tenement sale agreement with Strategic Energy Resources (ASX:SER) for an exploration title.
The acquisition adds 270km² of exploration tenure and increases its overall footprint in the region to 1,400km², securing its dominance in the region.
Lastly, mergers and acquisitions can increase exposure and access to certain parts of a supply chain. By buying out a supplier or distributor, a mining company can gain access to the downstream processing part of the market, for example.
“Through our recent acquisition of a 50% interest in Alluminous and the downstream HiPurA processing technology, we will look to integrate Lake Hope feedstock into a modular HPA production platform”
This is the rationale behind Impact Minerals (ASX:IPT) acquiring a strategic 50% stake in Alluminous to accelerate its entry into the high-purity alumina (HPA) market and to explore the potential integration of the HiPurA process with its Lake Hope project due to similarities in feedstock chemistry and aspects of the metallurgical flowsheets of the two processes.
Impact has also completed the issuance of 120 million shares to secure an 80% interest in Playa One, the owner of the Lake Hope High Purity Alumina Project. Impact Managing Director Dr Mike Jones says the transaction is a significant milestone.
“Through our recent acquisition of a 50% interest in Alluminous and the downstream HiPurA processing technology, we will look to integrate Lake Hope feedstock into a modular HPA production platform, allowing us to scale flexibly in line with market demand and customer qualification,” says Jones.
Transformational change
Current limited diversification of global critical mineral supplies and increasing demands for value chain transparency, particularly regarding ESG concerns, are helping to drive change in the trade and investment landscape.
Deloitte’s Tracking the trends 2025 report Leading through transformational change in mining and metals, notes for mining and metals companies, balancing growth opportunities with supply chain risks, while also helping governments address the triangulation of economic growth, security, and infrastructure needs is proving complex.
To make the best possible decisions in response to rapid geopolitical and economic changes may require leaders who can empower their teams to explore the different headwinds, tailwinds, and potential pathways forward for the company, Deloitte notes.
“For example, through studying potential future global scenarios and their implications for value chains, considering new ways to leverage incentives and alliances, and establishing new trade arrangements, leaders can gain clarity and plan in a way that helps enable their organisations to move fast and thrive through unpredictability.”
So where is the M&A market heading?
In a sign of the emerging dealmaking landscape, large global banks are relocating senior managers to Hong Kong, while boosting teams amid a surge of initial public offerings and M&A in Asia’s financial hub.
The Financial Times reports banks like Citigroup, DBS Bank, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan, and Standard Chartered are hiring in Hong Kong amid surging demand for banking and wealth services.
The city’s finance sector has reportedly been gaining momentum as a result of a rising number of Chinese companies using the territory as an offshore funding venue.
As per the Financial Times, the number of companies applying for a Hong Kong IPO hit an all-time high in H1 2025, which is a welcome sight given listings have broadly been in the doldrums for some time. Some industry observers are seeing a 30-40% rise in the number of positions that needed filling in Hong Kong compared to 2024, largely driven by increasing IPOs.
It comes as DBS (SGX:D05) in partnership with ‘edge’ – a business ecosystem connecting Indonesia, Hong Kong, and other cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area – recently hosted the Gateway to Indonesia: Navigating Uncertainties to Capture Boundless Growth conference in Hong Kong, as reported by Mining.com.au.
The event brought together senior executives, investors, and professionals to examine the evolving regional economic and investment landscape. It also explored how businesses can navigate uncertainty while unlocking the growth potential across Indonesia and the broader Asia region.
Deutsche Bank has reportedly relocated 50 staff to Hong Kong over the past two years and increased its dealmaking team by 10%.
JPMorgan hired 16 new managing directors in Hong Kong so far in 2025 and is relocating staff from across Asia, the US, and Europe, while Standard Chartered is expanding in the city, as per the Financial Times.
In part two of this dealmaking series, Mining.com.au explores which companies are leading the changing landscape, and which are the other emerging hotspots of M&A activity around the world.
Write to Adam Orlando at Mining.com.au
Images: Ansarada, DBS, Rapid, Unsplash & Mining.com.au
