The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition that Glencore PLC is buying the piece of an Argentine copper and gold project it did not already own for almost half a billion dollars, firming up its footing in critical minerals assets. The Globe's Niall McGee writes that the Swiss mining and commodity trading giant Glencore said Monday that it intends to buy a 56.2-per-cent share of the Mara project from Pan American Silver for $475-million (U.S.) to bring its ownership up to 100 per cent. Mara was one of the projects earmarked by Pan American as a non-core asset when it acquired a suite of gold and silver properties from Yamana Gold earlier this year. As part of the deal with Glencore, Pan American has been granted a royalty on any copper that may eventually be produced at the mine. Mara's reserves could support a mine life of 27 years. The Mara purchase is part of Glencore's strategy to streamline and strengthen its position in long-life critical minerals assets such as copper, to which investors ascribe a significantly higher valuation compared with its large portfolio of environmentally destructive thermal coal mines. Glencore earlier this year launched a takeover attempt for Teck, which produces copper and zinc.