Glencore history

Our rich mining history in this country began when Noranda Mines was incorporated with the signing of its Letters Patent on May 16, 1922.

In 1927, at the original site of Noranda, the Horne Smelter was established.

In 1928, the precursor to our nickel business was established when Thayer Lindsley, often referred to as the greatest mine finder of all time, purchased mining claims containing rich deposits of nickel-copper ore in the area northeast of Sudbury, Ontario.

In 1930, Falconbridge expanded its mining site and established the Sudbury Smelter to process material.

In 1931, Noranda opened the CCR refinery in Montréal-Est, Quebec, which processes all the copper produced by the Horne Smelter, and provides services to metal producers, mines, copper smelters and other refineries.

In 1932, a mill and sintering facility began its operations.

In 1952, the Falconbridge Metallurgical Laboratory was established and served as the precursor to our Expert Process Solutions (XPS), a licensed metallurgical consulting, technology and test work company that serves the global mining industry.

In 1955, General Smelting of Canada was founded in Lachine, Quebec, as part of our zinc business, and is today one of North America’s most established manufacturers of cast, rolled, extruded, welded and machined lead and tin-based products and alloys.

In 1966, our zinc business expanded yet again as Kidd Operations, the world’s deepest base-metal mine below sea level, went into production in Timmins, Ontario.

Glencore’s origins date back to 1974 when Marc Rich + Co AG was established, initially focusing on the marketing of ferrous and non-ferrous metals and minerals, crude oil and oil products.

In 1981, Granaria, a Dutch grain trading company was acquired, which later becomes Glencore Agriculture.

In 1993, after a management buyout from Marc Rich, the company was renamed Glencore.

According to Forbes, it is considered one of the top 2000 largest public companies in the world.

Three years after Teralba mine’s closure in 2001, an Envirogen power station was built to use fugitive methane emissions from the old New South Wales mine.

Xstrata plc was created through an initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange in 2002, acquiring Glencore’s Australian and South African coal assets and making it the world’s largest exporter of thermal coal.

In 2003, Xstrata doubled in size with the $2.9 billion takeover of Australian copper, coal, zinc and lead mining and processing company, MIM Holdings Limited.

The company's name doesn't give much away about what it does, and it's a relative newcomer to the public markets, listing on the London Stock Exchange in 2011.

In 2013, Glencore completed the merger with Xstrata, an Anglo-Swiss multinational mining company.