Rio Tinto in the game ? In the last cycle, the world's second biggest miner Rio Tinto was hit by some high-profile problems.
In 2013, it announced a $14 billion writedown almost entirely on the value of its two most significant acquisitions, the Alcan aluminium group in 2007 and Mozambique-focused coal miner Riversdale in 2011.
But it was also the first to recover and now has the best balance sheet in the business, leadin g to speculation it could be the first to emulate the merger activity in gold.
It has handed billions back to its shareholders in dividends and buybacks, sold unwanted assets, and bought nothing significant since 2012, leaving its portfolio heavily dependent on iron ore and some analysts say light on copper.
LaFemina said that could remain the case for now, barring incremental deals.
"I don't think there's anything obvious for Rio to do other than return capital to shareholders," LaFemina said.
But even fund managers, keen to maximise their own returns, predict there will be action at some point.
"Rio is now prioritising returning cash to shareholders and one could argue at the expense of volume growth and investors are questioning whether they will find themselves in three years' time with a company ex-growth," said a fund manager who owns shares in Rio speaking on condition of anonymity.