Megaprojects
Rio Tinto Clears US$144 Million Resolution Copper Development Program
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Rio Tinto (RIO ) announced on November 5, 2026 that it had approved a US$144 million investment by Resolution Copper to advance the Arizona project’s next development phase, with Rio Tinto’s share set at US$79 million.
The program will fund feasibility studies and final design engineering for development- and production-level material-handling equipment in both shafts, along with new water-treatment facilities. It will also support continuing exploration drilling and purchases of underground development and production equipment and long-lead electrical equipment. The approval therefore covers design, procurement and physical development work alongside further technical studies.
The program includes plans for approximately 50 additional roles across mining, geotechnical and geological disciplines, engineering and project services.
Rio Tinto Copper chief executive Katie Jackson said: “These funds will accelerate underground development, create additional skilled roles and ensure Resolution Copper is well positioned for its next investment decision, while maintaining safe underground operations and construction.”
Potential Scale and Project Ownership
Jackson said Resolution Copper could supply up to 25% of US copper demand for decades.
Rio Tinto describes Resolution Copper as potentially one of the largest copper mines in the United States, with the potential to create thousands of direct and indirect jobs and contribute approximately US$1 billion annually to Arizona’s economy.
The deposit near Superior lies between 5,000 and 7,000 feet underground. Resolution Copper Mining operates the joint venture, which is owned 55% by Rio Tinto and 45% by BHP.
March Land Exchange and Separate Preliminary Spending
The new investment is additional to approximately US$500 million of preliminary spending announced when the land exchange was completed in March 2026. The two figures cover separate programs.
That two-year preliminary program, announced on March 16, 2026, was designed to fund surface drilling for additional resource information, support for Native American Tribes and local communities, land-exchange costs, infrastructure upgrades and initial underground development. The earlier plan projected approximately 100 new jobs and called for activities to proceed alongside state-level permitting and continued collaboration with local communities and Native American Tribes.
Resolution Copper and the US Forest Service completed that exchange after legislation facilitating it passed with bipartisan support in 2014. More than a decade of consultation and coordination with civil-society organizations, local communities including the Town of Superior, and Native American Tribes followed.
Resolution Copper transferred more than 5,400 acres containing special-status species, riparian areas and Native American cultural sites for inclusion in National Forests and National Conservation Areas. In return, it received more than 2,400 acres adjacent to the historic Magma copper mine in Superior.
The latest approval builds on that land access with detailed engineering, resource work and equipment procurement. Its immediate significance is the next investment decision those activities are intended to support: Resolution Copper’s substantial stated supply and economic potential still depends on completing this development path, alongside the permitting and community collaboration set out in the earlier program.
