It is in line with that of BHP, albeit a notch below. Glencore continues to lead the way despite - or thanks to - its portfolio of assets, while Anglo American lags behind, punished in particular for the difficulties it is encountering in South Africa.

Rio Tinto, which until now made most of its operating profits from its iron ore mining activities, is now betting heavily on copper. A case in point is the mega-project it is developing in Mongolia, in which it has already invested $15 billion.

Several projections indicate that global demand for copper is set to double over the next fifteen years, as a result of the energy transition. This should help to rebalance a portfolio of projects still too dependent on iron ore.

Overall, the Group has been well restructured over the last ten-year cycle. The previous cycle, 2005-2015, was indeed complicated, not least because Rio Tinto had weathered the great financial crisis of 2008-2009 with an overly fragile balance sheet.

Its economic performance has improved since 2015, with rising returns on capital and a much more solid financial base. This has enabled free cash flow to double and be redirected towards capital returns to shareholders.

In this respect, since the 2008-2009 crisis, the sacrosanct dividend has only been cut on two occasions: in 2016 in a globally devastated commodities sector, and this year after an out-of-this-world 2022 vintage at all levels.

Valued primarily on the basis of its dividend, Rio Tinto shares currently offer a yield of 6.5%, right on their ten-year average. This is a ceiling that the stock often hits, only to fall back to a yield of 5% and then bounce back up again.

It remains to be seen how the market will react to the planned increase in capital expenditure announced yesterday in the Group's quarterly report. The annual budget is set to rise from $7 billion to $10 billion, with half of this increase linked to decarbonization initiatives - a welcome initiative on paper, but one that will have to be properly monetized.