China Eyes Anglo Teck Copper Guarantees, Glencore Wins Argentina Approval, and Ghana Targets Gold Terms

China Wants Copper Supply Guarantees Before Clearing Anglo Teck: First, the Anglo Teck merger, and the last regulator standing. Reuters reports, citing three people aware of the discussions, that China's State Administration for Market Regulation has asked Anglo American to commit to a steady flow of copper concentrate into China as a condition of approving its proposed 54 billion dollar merger with Teck Resources. The assurances would cover volumes sold through traders as well.
Glencore Wins RIGI Approval for Its US$4 Billion MARA Copper Project: Next, Argentina. Glencore has received approval under the country's Incentive Regime for Large Investments, known as RIGI, for its Agua Rica copper project, in Catamarca province, which Glencore develops together with the Alumbrera plant as the MARA project. The Northern Miner puts the project at 4 billion dollars. RIGI is designed to give large projects long-term tax, customs and foreign-exchange stability.
Ghana's Draft Mining Bill Would Add a Special State Share and Shorter Leases: Meanwhile, in West Africa, Ghana has put a draft Minerals and Mining Bill on the table that could reshape terms for the gold industry. Reuters, as summarised by SP Angel, reports the bill would let the mines minister require a free special state share with veto rights over lease transfers, liquidations and disposals of linked overseas assets.
Copper and Iron Ore Slide as China Sits Out Golden Week: Now to the base metals. Copper is finishing the week lower. Bloomberg reported that London Metal Exchange copper was headed for its biggest weekly decline since May, SP Angel has copper at 14,244 dollars a tonne, down from 14,528 the session before, and notes that high energy costs and a slowdown in Chinese industry threaten demand.
Gold Slides 3% on the Week Despite a Weak Jobs Report: Finally, gold. The metal opened the week at 4,277.90 dollars an ounce, hit a high of 4,280.56 on Monday, then fell to a weekly low of 4,110.95 on Thursday, according to Kitco. On Friday the U.S. economy added just 29,000 jobs against a forecast of 90,000, the unemployment rate rose to 4.2%, and July and August payrolls were revised lower. That cut October Federal Reserve hike odds and pushed yields and the dollar down, but gold could not hold above 4,200 and slid back. At the time of Kitco's report spot was 4,140.52, down 3.09% on the week.
Sources:
- Reuters via BNN Bloomberg — China Wants Copper Supply Guarantees Before Clearing Anglo Teck: https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/investing/commodities/2026/10/02/china-demands-copper-supply-commitments-for-anglo-teck-merger-approval-reuters-sources-say/
- Mining.com.au — China Wants Copper Supply Guarantees Before Clearing Anglo Teck: https://mining.com.au/china-seeks-copper-guarantees-for-anglo-teck-merger-report/
- Glencore — Glencore Wins RIGI Approval for Its US$4 Billion MARA Copper Project: https://www.glencore.com/media-and-insights/news/glencore-receives-rigi-approval-for-agua-rica--mara
- The Northern Miner — Glencore Wins RIGI Approval for Its US$4 Billion MARA Copper Project: https://www.northernminer.com/news/glencore-gets-rigi-nod-for-4b-argentina-copper-project/1003895400/
- BNamericas — Glencore Wins RIGI Approval for Its US$4 Billion MARA Copper Project: https://www.bnamericas.com/en/features/argentina-adds-glencores-mara-copper-project-to-the-rigi-for-us4bn
- SP Angel (citing Reuters) — Ghana's Draft Mining Bill Would Add a Special State Share and Shorter Leases: https://www.share-talk.com/sp-angel-todays-market-view-friday-2nd-october-2026/
- SP Angel (citing Bloomberg) — Copper and Iron Ore Slide as China Sits Out Golden Week: https://www.share-talk.com/sp-angel-todays-market-view-friday-2nd-october-2026/
- Mining.com.au — Copper and Iron Ore Slide as China Sits Out Golden Week: https://mining.com.au/iron-ore-prices-dip-to-lowest-level-in-past-year/
- The Rio Times — Copper and Iron Ore Slide as China Sits Out Golden Week: https://www.riotimesonline.com/copper-markets-latam-saturday-october-3-2026/
- Kitco News — Gold Slides 3% on the Week Despite a Weak Jobs Report: https://www.kitco.com/news/article/2026-10-02/wall-street-brink-bearish-majority-after-golds-post-payrolls-slide-main