Rio Tinto backs away from mining mega-merger

The world's largest mining company, BHP Billiton, has revealed it approached rival Rio Tinto about a potential merger to create an Anglo-Australian behemoth that would rank as one of the world's 10 largest companies.

BHP Billiton told the London Stock Exchange late last night that the proposed takeover - which would be one of the largest in business history - could create a US$350 billion-plus (A$376 billion-plus) mining giant, but that the Rio Tinto board had rejected it.