By Clara Denina and Iain Withers

LONDON (Reuters) -The $53  billion planned merger between Anglo American and Teck Resources announced on Tuesday marks a breakthrough after years of failed mining sector consolidation attempts and could spur their rivals to action.

The sector’s second-biggest ever tie-up that would create the world’s fifth-largest copper company appears to have broad support. Anglo shares rose 9%, while Teck stock was up 14% after the announcement.

Rivals Glencore, BHP, and Rio Tinto, which had their M&A attempts fall through, could move to gain scale in an industrial metal critical for industries from electric vehicles to data centres.

“Both BHP and Rio would like more copper if they could get it, although they may blink at the prices now,” said Ian Woodley, a fund man

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