The company is close to making a decision on developing Mina do Barroso mine, which could become the first European supplier of spodumene, a lithium-bearing mineral.
The companies envision an investment from Glencore that will help fund construction in exchange for offtake of production of four million tonnes of iron ore a year.
The mining and trading giant will cap its production of thermal and coking coal at about 150m tonnes per year, close to its planned output level for 2019.