16 Biggest Mining Companies in the World

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The In this article, we will be taking a look at the 16 biggest mining companies in the world. To skip our detailed analysis, you can go directly to see 5 biggest mining companies in the world.

The mining industry is easily one of the most important sectors in the global economy and was worth around $1.84 trillion in 2021 while growing to $2.06 trillion in 2022. This is a stunning increase at a CAGR of 12% and the industry is expected to continue growing at an even more exceptional CAGR of 12.9% and will cross $3.36 trillion by 2026.

2022 has been a bumper year for the mining industry as a result of the war between Russia and Ukraine. Since these two countries are major producers of several metals such as copper, iron and nickel while also being involved in other raw materials extraction such as of palladium, neon and platinum. When the war started, the supply of these metals was affected which led to an increase in prices. Prices also soared amid the West's sanctions on Russia. For example, palladium was being traded at $2,700 in February 2022, which showed an 80% increase in prices in a period of just two months.

16 biggest mining companies in the world
16 biggest mining companies in the world

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According to KPMG, this is the first time in 12 years that commodities risk isn't the highest risk being faced by the mining industry. ESG is now the biggest risk the industry faces. Environmental risks and regulations are now dominating the mining industry, which is interesting considering how resistant to change the industry has been.

The biggest mining companies in the world are from different parts of the world, due to diverse operations. The combined revenues of these companies are well in excess of $900 billion. To determine the largest mining companies, we considered them based on their market cap, revenue, profits and assets. We then assigned 30% weightage to the first three criteria and 10% to the latter. All statistics are taken from Yahoo Finance, and converted to USD, where required.

16. Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB)

Total market cap of the company as of 27th November 2022 (in millions): 31,962

Total revenue of the company (in millions): 3,328

Total revenue of the company (in millions): 124

Total assets of the company (in millions): 10,974

Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) is an American mining company headquartered in North Carolina. Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) is known for being the biggest provider of lithium for electric vehicle batteries, a fast-growing industry. Currently, Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) is one of three companies which produce more than half of the global lithium supply.