The article emphasizes the essential importance of the mining and metallurgical complex in the process of Russia's economic development, as well as the difficulties of the metallurgical companies, especially in connection with the increase of the tax burden. A study of theoretical aspects of rent was conducted. It focuses, inter alia, on the concept of superprofits. The dynamics of rental income in the Russian copper industry for the period 2012-2022 was analyzed. The analysis is based on statistical indicators of Russian companies engaged in the production of copper and the mining and processing of copper ore. The results obtained indicate a steady increase in profitability in 2021-2022, accompanied by a significant growth in capital investments, which indicates a lack of investments in this industry. In accordance with the super-profitable concept of rent, the Russian government has previously identified additional income as unfair profit and has taken measures to withdraw it. Thus, the introduction of a tax on additional income has led to a significant increase in taxation of companies in the industry. Thus, the high debt burden and the tightening of the monetary policy of the Central Bank of Russia in 2022 significantly affected the profitability of the industry, leading to negative cash flow in the same year. The situation was expected to worsen in 2023 due to a further increase in the key interest rate and the introduction of export duties.