The 10 biggest mining deals of 2012

Global mining deals dropped 74% over the first half of 2013, with little hope for an upswing anytime soon, and the volume of M&As sank by over 30% during the same time period, according to global professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC) mining industry report.Looking back to last year, one big deal, the merger between Glencore and Xstrata, helped to keep the numbers up but couldn’t save 2012 from having the fewest mining industry transactions since 2005. Here’s a glimpse of the Xstrata deal and the other, more modest deals that cracked the 2012 top 10: