Rio Tinto and Glencore have announced they are in preliminary merger discussions to form the world’s largest mining group, which would have a combined market capitalisation of almost $207bn. Mining companies worldwide are racing to expand their holdings in metals such as copper, which are poised to gain from the shift to cleaner energy and the growing demand driven by AI, reported Reuters. Talks between Rio Tinto and Glencore come on the heels of a series of expansion projects and acquisition efforts ac ...