Currently, the world economy is slowly recovering, and inflationary pressures have eased. However, it still faces risks such as intensified geopolitical tensions, rising protectionism, and high debt growth, exhibiting characteristics of insufficient momentum, imbalanced growth, and intensified fragmentation. At the same time, with the accelerated pace of energy transformation, the restructuring of the global mining industry chain and supply chain is deepening, and structural contradictions between mining supply and demand are intensifying in the new cycle. Meanwhile, technological innovation, global governance, and green sustainability are injecting new momentum into the high-quality development of the mining industry. Overall, the global mining industry is accelerating its transformation and development towards green, intelligent, and full industry chain integration.
The world economy is showing a trend of "weakness and unevenness," with the differentiation in production, consumption, and trade of energy resources deepening
Since 2024, the world economy has entered a period of "low-normal" growth, with significant differences in growth rates among countries or regions. On the one hand, geopolitical risks coupled with protectionist waves have led to high growth in global debt and an intensified imbalance between global energy resource supply and demand. On the other hand, global inflation has effectively eased, the transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing landscape have accelerated, economies have shown varying performances, and industrial and supply chains have undergone profound restructuring. Overall, global energy resource production and consumption continue to grow, while the trade volume of major minerals has generally decreased. Among them, the supply and demand of energy minerals have slowed down, maintaining an overall tight balance. In bulk solid minerals, steel supply and demand have both declined, with an increasing degree of oversupply; copper supply and demand have continued to grow, with the supply gap expanding; aluminum supply and demand have both increased, with the degree of oversupply decreasing; zinc supply and demand have both declined, shifting to a situation of supply shortages. Strategic emerging minerals have seen rapid growth in both supply and demand, with oversupply prevailing in all cases. In precious metal minerals, gold supply and demand have both increased, but gold is in oversupply; silver supply has declined while demand has increased, maintaining a high supply gap; platinum supply and demand have both increased, with the supply shortage pattern deepening. Agricultural mineral supply and demand have both increased, with potassium fertilizer experiencing a greater degree of oversupply and phosphate fertilizer showing a decrease. China's mineral resource supply and consumption have significantly increased, and the supply-demand structure has accelerated adjustment, continuously making new contributions to the development of the global mining industry.
Proportions of global oil production (left) and consumption (right) by region from 2021 to 2024, along with the forecast for oil production proportion in 2025 (data source: International Energy Agency). Global refined copper production and consumption from 2020 to 2024 (data source: International Copper Study Group)
02 Exploration investment, drilling activities, and large-scale mining projects continue to decrease
In 2024, the global exploration investment in major solid minerals continued to decline to USD 12.48 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 3.3%. Among them, gold and copper exploration investment still dominated, while lithium exploration investment reached a new record high. Latin America was a "hot spot" for exploration investment, with both large and small mining companies being the main sources of global exploration investment in major solid minerals. The global drilling activities for major solid minerals continued to decline, with the total number of drilling projects and boreholes decreasing by 19.9% and 15.3% year-on-year, respectively. Among them, the number of drilling projects for strategic emerging minerals decreased the most, followed by bulk solid minerals, while precious metals experienced the smallest decrease. The concentration of drilling projects for solid minerals increased. Specifically, the number of drilling projects for precious metals and bulk solid minerals accounted for a higher proportion of the total number of implemented drilling projects, with a combined share exceeding 80%; the number of gold drilling projects still dominated the total number of implemented drilling projects; the proportion of drilling projects for strategic emerging minerals in the total number of implemented drilling projects decreased. In 2024, there were a total of 1,813 large-scale mining projects globally, a year-on-year decrease of 1.4%, mainly concentrated in the Asia-Pacific region, which accounted for 46.4% of the global total. Changes in global exploration investment in major solid minerals from 2014 to 2024 (Data source: S&P Global Market Intelligence) Monthly changes in global drilling activities for major solid minerals from January 2023 to February 2025 (Data source: S&P Global Market Intelligence)
There is a significant divergence in the prices of mineral products, with mining companies' stock prices and profits generally declining, and both the mining financing and M&A transaction markets cooling down
In 2024, there were significant divergences in the prices of major global mineral products. Affected by factors such as geopolitics and the production reduction policies of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+), energy mineral prices generally rose and then fell, with coal prices dropping by over 20% compared to 2023. The prices of bulk solid minerals fluctuated more intensely, with iron ore prices falling by over 30% during the year, while copper, aluminum, and zinc prices slightly increased. Strategic emerging minerals faced strong supply and weak demand, leading to a continuous decline in their price center of gravity. Agricultural mineral prices first declined and then rose, with the market gradually recovering. The stock prices of major global mining companies generally weakened and fluctuated downward. Among them, the stock prices of major global oil and gas companies remained relatively stable; the stock prices of major solid mineral companies generally fluctuated downward, with an average decline of nearly 30%; companies primarily engaged in gold experienced wide fluctuations in their stock prices, but overall showed an upward trend; the stock prices of major strategic emerging mineral companies generally declined, with significant differences among companies; companies primarily engaged in potash saw their stock prices generally decline. The global market for financing and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions of major solid minerals continued to cool down. In 2024, the global financing amount for major solid minerals was $10.27 billion, down 11.7% year-on-year. Among them, the financing amounts for strategic emerging minerals and bulk solid minerals decreased significantly, down 37.1% and 12.1% year-on-year, respectively; gold, due to its safe-haven properties, saw an increase in financing amounts, up 7.3% year-on-year. The global M&A transaction volume and project count significantly decreased. In 2024, the M&A transaction volume was $29.35 billion, down 42.6% year-on-year; the number of M&A projects was 685, down 31.8% year-on-year. Among them, the M&A transaction volume in Europe and North America increased significantly against the trend, while the M&A transaction volume in traditionally active regions such as Oceania and Asia shrank sharply. The M&A transaction volumes for minerals such as gold, copper, iron, nickel, and cobalt significantly decreased. From January 2024 to March 2025, the main commodity price index (data source: International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database) From 2010 to 2024, the global M&A transaction volume of major solid minerals (data source: S&P Global Market Intelligence)
The threshold for the total market value of the top 50 global mining companies has increased, and the focus on sustainable development continues to rise
In 2024, the total market capitalization of the world's top 50 mining companies, as ranked by MINING.COM, experienced a surge followed by a decline. The total market capitalization saw steady growth in the first three quarters but decreased by 10% in the fourth quarter, exhibiting a fluctuating trend. In the second quarter of 2025, the threshold for entering the ranking of the world's top 50 mining companies was raised to $9.2 billion, marking a significant increase from $6.7 billion in 2024 and $7.2 billion in 2023. Currently, precious metals and diversified enterprises dominate the top 50 mining companies globally, with 17 and 9 companies respectively in the second quarter of 2025. The number of bulk mineral and strategic emerging mineral enterprises saw a slight decline. Affected by macroeconomics, energy transformation, and geopolitical conflicts, precious metals enterprises performed strongly, with both volume and price increasing. In the second quarter of 2025, the total market capitalization of precious metals enterprises among the world's top 50 mining companies reached $377.7 billion, marking a 76.7% increase from the fourth quarter of 2024. Sustainability has increasingly become a key issue in the development of the global mining industry and is also regarded as the primary challenge for the industry, playing a crucial role in enhancing the long-term survival and competitiveness of mining enterprises. International mining companies are guided by environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) principles, quantifying the sustainable value of enterprises through market mechanisms. The domestic mining industry, led by the "dual carbon" goals, focuses on green mine construction and other initiatives to achieve sustainable development in the mining sector. The total market capitalization of enterprises from different countries among the world's top 50 mining companies in the second quarter of 2025 (data source: collated from the report "The top 50 biggest mining companies in the world" by Mining.com)
05 Critical minerals have become an important component of national security, leading to frequent adjustments in resource strategies and mining policies across various countries
Since 2024, the international situation has been tumultuous, with the global economy showing an uneven recovery trend. Rising geopolitical risks and the resurgence of global trade protectionism have led to the continuous escalation of international trade barriers. Amidst the deepening global energy transition and a new round of technological revolution, critical minerals have become an important component of national security and resource strategies for various countries. Resource competition has intensified the co-opetition trend in the global critical minerals sector, exhibiting characteristics such as supply chain alignment, localization of industrial chains, and sustainable development of investment models. Among them, major developed economies continue to engage in resource competition globally by updating their critical minerals lists, expanding international alliances for critical minerals, imposing import tariffs, strengthening foreign investment reviews, and leading the formulation of global standards and norms such as ESG, to ensure the security of their own critical minerals supply chains. Resource-based developing countries continue to improve their domestic mineral resource governance frameworks and promote the transformation and upgrading of the mining industry by promoting mining law reviews and revisions, deepening reforms of mining administration systems, and increasing emphasis on ESG practices.
06 New technologies such as artificial intelligence empower the high-quality development of the mining industry, and intelligence and greenification reshape the industry paradigm
With the deepening of the global energy transformation and a new round of technological revolution, mining exploration and development technology and equipment have become an important guarantee for countries to maintain the safety of the mineral resource industry chain and supply chain. Since 2024, new technologies represented by artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and the Internet of Things have accelerated the transformation and upgrading of the global mining industry towards digitalization, intelligence, and greenification. The rapid development of AI technology for exploration big data has become an important tool for analyzing geophysical and geochemical data and extracting mineralization anomaly information. Its application in various exploration scenarios has continued to mature, but challenges such as databases and AI models still need to be overcome in the future. Geophysical technology and equipment are developing towards comprehensiveness and integration, and the three-dimensional remote sensing prospecting technology system for space-air-ground is gradually improving. With the assistance of AI and new energy technologies, the transformation towards intelligent and green mining continues to advance, promoting the high-level development and utilization of mineral resources. Major countries and regions around the world continue to strengthen the construction of the technology system for mineral resource recycling and utilization, and new progress is continuously made in the application of recycling and utilization technologies for popular resources such as rare earths and lithium.
07 Summary and Outlook
In the past five years, the COVID-19 pandemic has swept across the globe, geopolitical conflicts have escalated, and coupled with the accelerated impact of energy transformation and technological revolution, the global mining industry has entered a new cycle, with resource competition among major countries intensifying. Amidst multiple uncertainties, the global mining industry is struggling to move forward, with adjustments in the mining landscape and regional differentiation intensifying. The supply and consumption of mineral resources continue to increase, while mineral prices generally decline, and the profitability of the mining industry decreases. Under the influence of geopolitics, the global mining industry chain and supply chain have undergone profound restructuring. Developed countries continue to promote the regionalization of supply chains and the localization of industries through setting trade barriers, strengthening resource alliances, and weaponizing compliance standards. Rising nationalism, escalating export controls, and divergent mining policies in resource-rich countries further fragment the global market, driving the core of global mining competition to shift from "scale expansion + efficiency prioritization" to "resilience reconstruction + safety and controllability" in the industry chain and supply chain. In the new cycle of mining development, the global supply and demand pattern of mineral resources presents contradictions such as differentiated demand for traditional bulk minerals and new energy minerals, short-term excess and long-term shortage of new energy minerals, and deep fragmentation of mining regional markets. The new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation represented by AI, big data, and the Internet of Things continues to deepen, injecting strong momentum into the high-quality development of the mining industry and comprehensively promoting the transformation and development of mining towards intelligence and greenification. In the next five years, with the continuous expansion of demand for new energy minerals, the competition among major countries in the mining field will further intensify. Resilience orientation will replace efficiency supremacy, and redundant reserves and diversified supply will become strategic cores. Technological innovation drives the paradigm innovation of global mining development, promoting the transformation of global mining from a "labor-intensive" industry to a "data-driven, intelligence-led, green and sustainable" technology-intensive industry. The century-old changes will reshape the global resource governance cooperation pattern, and global resource governance will present a new pattern. The governance subjects will become more diversified, governance rules will accelerate evolution, and governance efficiency will be significantly improved. Countries should strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation in key mineral fields, jointly maintain the stability and smoothness of the industry chain and supply chain, work together to build a community of mining destiny, solve the global resource dilemma, achieve sustainable development, and contribute to world economic growth.
Original title: "Green, Intelligent, and Full Industry Chain Integration - Accelerating Transformation and Development of Global Mining Industry" by the International Mining Research Team of China Mining News
The International Mining Research Office of China Mining News is the mining research team of China Mining News. In recent years, this team has provided authoritative, accurate, and effective mining information and think-tank services to the mining industry and related market entities. It mainly conducts research on mining markets, mining technology, mining big data, and other related topics. It annually releases branded products such as the "Global Mining Development Report", has established a global mineral resources information system, and continuously provides support and services for government decision-making and international mining investment cooperation of Chinese enterprises. Its industry influence is increasingly prominent. (Mining industry)
Source: Mining Industry
