Mike Henry, the chief executive of Australian mega-miner BHP, has been seeking to end pointless meetings. He may want to look at his M&A team’s calendar. On Sunday morning, news broke that BHP had made a renewed takeover approach for £30bn London-listed Anglo American after a failed attempt last year.

The timing raised eyebrows: this was BHP's second overture in two years, following a failed 2024 proposal that would have required Anglo to partially break itself up, even as the two copper-rich targets prepare to create a company worth more than $60 billion.

Last Thursday night, the world’s biggest miner made a brazen attempt to gatecrash one of the industry’s biggest-ever deals. Yet just three days later, the bid was already dead.

BHP’s repeated failed bids for Anglo American have left investors and analysts questioning the dealmaking strategy of the world’s largest mining company, at a time when it is under pressure to find more growth.

Even with China’s ongoing talks affecting BHP iron ore, exports from Port Hedland, the Pilbara’s main hub, have stayed strong.

Bloomberg News reported Sunday that Anglo had rebuffed a new approach from BHP, deciding it wasn’t superior to the planned combination with Teck. BHP subsequently confirmed it had held preliminary discussions with its smaller rival, but had now abandoned the endeavor.

China's state-owned iron ore buyer has ordered steel mills and traders to stop purchasing a certain type of BHP iron ore, sources said, adding to a separate ban already in place and escalating a dispute over a new contract.