China releases global mining development report for the first time

At the 21st China International Mining Conference held in Tianjin recently, the international mining research center of China Geological Survey Bureau, Ministry of natural resources, was established and released the global mining development report 2019. The report is China's first report on the development trend of global mining industry. The report comprehensively analyzes the development trend of global mining industry in 2018-2019 from the aspects of mining market, supply and demand pattern of mineral resources, development of mining companies, trend of mining policies of major countries, development of mining science and technology, and makes a preliminary forecast on the future industry pattern. According to the report, due to the overall adjustment of the global mineral product market, the structure of the mining market is different. In 2019, affected by the supply and demand fundamentals and emergencies, the prices of oil, Copper, lithium, cobalt, etc. declined as a whole, while the prices of iron ore, nickel and gold rose sharply.

In 2018, the mining industry provided 22.7 billion tons of energy, metal and important non-metal minerals for human beings, with a total output value of 5.9 trillion US dollars, equivalent to 6.9% of global GDP. Among them, the output value of energy mining industry is 4.5 trillion US dollars, accounting for 76% of the world's total output value of mining industry. The report points out that in terms of mining exploration, in 2018, the global investment in solid mineral exploration slowly picked up, the proportion of large mining companies increased, and the proportion of small and medium-sized exploration companies decreased. Investment in grassroots exploration continued to decline, while investment in detailed investigation and exploration continued to grow. The proportion of gold, copper and zinc continued to increase, while that of uranium, nickel and diamond continued to decrease. At the same time, large mining companies gradually focus on the north and South America, Australia and other regions, greatly reducing investment in exploration in Africa, Southeast Asia and other regions. With the reshaping of market structure, international large-scale mining companies are highly financial, and the proportion of high-quality resources is increasing.

Financial institutions of mining companies in the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, Brazil, the United Kingdom and other countries generally hold more than 50% shares. Among the 2395 listed mining companies in the world, the number of large mining companies accounts for less than 4%, but their market value accounts for nearly 80%. Large international mining companies occupy the world's high-quality resources. The top ten mining companies occupy 82% of the world's iron ore, 60% of Bauxite, 46% of copper, 42% of nickel, 96% of platinum, 94% of palladium and 85% of uranium. At the same time, the slowdown of global economic growth has prompted large international mining companies to strengthen risk management and control, and promote strategic adjustment and transformation development. International large-scale mining companies continue to peel off non core projects, focus on projects with good endowment, low cost and abundant cash flow, arrange anti cycle and anti risk minerals such as gold and copper, clean energy minerals such as platinum and lithium, and peel off traditional minerals such as coal. Some large international mining companies have gradually reduced investment in exploration and development in Africa, Southeast Asia and other regions, and returned to Australia, America and other regions. In terms of policy guidance, major countries and regions have gradually accelerated the adjustment of mining policies and promoted global resource governance. Among them, the United States has basically achieved energy independence, and is accelerating the security of supply of key mineral resources and promoting global resource governance. Europe strengthens the development of mineral resources in the region, strengthens the safe supply of key raw materials and global resource management. Canada and Australia promote green mining and improve the quality and efficiency of mining development. Indonesia, Congo (DRC) and other Asian and African countries extend the mining industry chain and strengthen local mining rights and interests by adjusting taxes and other policies.