By Elliot Gulliver-Needham Rio Tinto’s profit edged up 1.8 per cent during the first half of the year, as the miner has begun to eye a takeover in the copper space. While the miner derives most of its profit from iron, it is increasingly focusing on copper thanks to its strong prices, as iron prices have dropped 15 per cent since the start of the year, while copper prices have jumped 12 per cent. The group’s copper production is on track to grow about two per cent this year, and it aims to deliver a three per cent growth in the field annually until 2028, it said in its interim results. City so…