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Rio Tinto and Glencore have held early-stage talks about combining their businesses, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. The potential merger between the two mining heavyweights,

When Glencore Plc proposed a combination with Rio Tinto Group a decade ago, the larger company turned it down after just a few days. News this week that the two spent several months in negotiations in the second half of last year shows how the sands have shifted,

Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO) and Glencore (OTCPK:GLCNF) (OTCPK:GLNCY) reportedly discussed a potential merger for months at the top level of both companies, in what would be the mining industry's largest-ever deal.