London-listed miner Anglo American and Canada's Teck Resources plan to merge, marking the sector's second-biggest mergers and acquisitions deal ever and forging a new global copper-focused heavyweight. Under the proposed deal, which will require regulatory approvals and was announced on Tuesday, Anglo American shareholders will own 62.4 percent of the new company, Anglo Teck, while shareholders in Teck would hold 37.6 percent. The deal to form the world's fifth-largest copper company is also a big bet on copper by Anglo. Glencore's $90bn merger with Xstrata in 2013 remains the largest mining deal in history. Copper, used in the power and construction sectors, is set to benefit from burgeoning demand spurred by electric vehicles and artificial intelligence.

With experience spanning academia, the private sector, government and even a start-up, Kalev Ruberg came to the mining sector rather late in his career. When he arrived 12 years ago, he found a "very fractured landscape" from a technology systems point of view. "Independent development may result in a one-off success, but being entrepreneurial and working in silos is the biggest challenge we all have," said Ruberg. "We need to govern the way innovation proceeds into production. The innovation success we've had at Teck has come from a very disciplined platform approach because it has staying power."