A few years ago the coal production was in the pits. Then Covid-19 hit, lockdowns ensued and demand generally fell. Coal mining, it seemed, was a dying industry.
Rio Tinto (RIO) was the first to stop. The intention of then-Chairman Jean-Sébastien Jacques was to make the group “leaner and greener”, with a focus on iron ore, aluminium, copper and bauxite. It exited coal in 2018 with the sale of its Kestrel mine in Australia. That opened the door…
