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Events/Company founded · 1974

Marc Rich + Co AG established

Company founded, 1974, Switzerland.

What happened

Glencore says it was founded in 1974 as Marc Rich + Co AG, initially marketing ferro-alloys, and was renamed Glencore after a management buyout from Marc Rich in 1993.1,2

Why it matters

The firm grew from a metals trader into a producer and trader of more than 90 commodities.1,2

Story cards

Around the same time

  1. Bretton Woods conference

    Bretton Woods conference.3

  2. Gina Rinehart born

    Gina Rinehart born (date from Wikidata).4

  3. Aberfan disaster

    Aberfan disaster. Wikidata records 144 deaths.5

  4. De Beers Botswana Mining Company formed

    Debswana is the joint venture behind Botswana's diamond mines.6,7

  5. Nixon ends dollar convertibility into gold

    Gold ceased to have a fixed dollar price.8,9

  6. Shaba invasions trigger a cobalt market panic

    The shock made Western governments worry about cobalt supply from central Africa and still shapes talk of critical minerals.10,11,12

  7. Placer Dome founded

    Placer Dome founded.13

  8. Gretley Colliery inrush

    The inquiry led to changes in how mine plans are checked in New South Wales.14,15

Open the full timeline

Where next

Events

Led toGlencore lists in LondonThe metals trader of 1974 listed on the London Stock Exchange on 24 May 2011.1Led toGlencore completes merger with XstrataA ferro-alloys trader of 1974 grew into a producer and trader of over 90 commodities.1

Sources

  1. Glencore timeline
  2. Baar (item Q64087), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  3. Wikidata item Q188532 (Bretton Woods conference)
  4. Wikidata item Q242982 (Gina Rinehart)
  5. Wikidata item Q384291 (Aberfan disaster)
  6. Report to Stakeholders 2014 (key milestones 1967 to 2014) Debswana Diamond Company
  7. Gaborone (item Q3919), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  8. Nixon and the End of the Bretton Woods System, 1971-1973 US Department of State, Office of the Historian
  9. Washington, D.C. (item Q61), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  10. Investigation of U.S. Foreign Reliance on Critical Minerals, OFR 2020-1127 US Geological Survey
  11. Statement of Charles G. Groat, Director, USGS US Geological Survey
  12. Kolwezi (item Q271404), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  13. Wikidata item Q3390766 (Placer Dome founded)
  14. 1996 Gretley Colliery Inrush case study (Learning from disasters) NSW Resources Regulator
  15. Newcastle (item Q57278), coordinate location P625 Wikidata

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Cover photos from Wikimedia Commons: The Big Hole by Rudolph Botha, CC BY-SA 3.0.