Anglo American remains the only giant miner not buying back shares, but that doesn’t mean it’s not thinking about it. The world’s biggest producers, shunning growth and reluctant to launch a major new deal spree, have been handing record amounts of money back to shareholders in the recent years. Even Glencore, once the most deal-hungry of the large miners, has decided that shareholder returns are the best use of its cash, announcing plans yesterday to repurchase at least $3-billion in stock this year.
