The European Commission on Wednesday gave a conditional green light to the massive tie-up between Swiss mining giant Xstrata and commodities trader Glencore that would create a global leader.

"The clearance is conditional on the termination of Glencore's off-take arrangements for zinc metal in the European Economic Area with Nyrstar, the world's largest zinc metal producer, and the divestiture of Glencore's minority shareholding in Nyrstar," it said in a statement.