The International Mining Research Center of Ministry of Natural Resources, the China Geological Survey was established at the 21st China International Mining Conference on 10th Oct., and released the Global Mining Development Report 2019 on the spot. The report is China's first report on the development of the global mining industry.

The report predicted that in the short term, global economic growth slow down, global trade friction, geopolitical conflict and other factors will increase the uncertainty of global mining development, and the mining market will continue to shake and adjust.

The report said, because global mineral product market adjusted entirely, mining industry market structure appeared different. In 2019, oil, copper, lithium, cobalt and other prices showed a trend of overall decline, while iron ore, nickel and gold prices rose significantly affected by supply and demand fundamentals and emergencies.

According to the report, in 2018, mining provided 22.7 billion tons of energy, metal and non-metallic minerals for mankind, with a total output value of 5.9 trillion dollars, equivalent to 6.9% of global GDP. Among them, the value of energy and mining is 4.5 trillion dollars, accounting for 76% of the world's total mining output.

The report pointed out that in terms of mineral exploration, investment in global solid mineral exploration rose slowly in 2018, with more investment of large mining companies and small and medium-sized exploration companies accounting for less. Grassroots exploration investment continued to decline, detailed investigation and exploration investment continued to increase. 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 focused on the North and South America, Australia and other regions, and slashed the investment in exploration in Africa, southeast Asia and other regions.

With the remolding of the market pattern, large international mining companies are highly financialized and the proportion of high-quality resources increases. The financial institutions of mining companies in the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, Brazil, Britain and other countries generally hold more than 50% shares. Among the 2,395 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 possess the world's high-quality resources. The top ten mining companies own 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 in global economic growth has prompted large international mining companies to strengthen risk control and boost strategic adjustment and transformation development. Large international mining companies have been stripping away non-core projects, focusing on projects with good endowment, low cost and abundant cash flow, and laying out anti-cycle and anti-risk minerals such as gold and copper, as well as cleaning energy minerals such as platinum and lithium, and stripping away traditional minerals such as coal. Some large international mining companies gradually reduce the investment in exploration and development in Africa, southeast Asia and other regions, and return 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 efforts to ensure the safe supply of key mineral resources and promote global resource governance. Europe strengthen the development of mineral resources in the region, secure supply of key raw materials and global resource governance. Canada and Australia promote green mining to improve the quality and benefits of mining development. Indonesia, democratic republic of the Congo and other Asian and African countries have extended the mining industry chain and strengthened local mining rights and interests through adjusting taxation and other policies.