Top 50 mining companies rise in value by $ 600 billion despite covid-19 effects
Despite falling gold prices, high copper and iron ore prices took MINING.COM’s ranking of the world’s 50 most valuable miners to a new high of $ 1.35 trillion at the end of the first trimester.
The MINING.COM Top 50 * Most Valuable Mining Companies added a combined $ 50 billion in market capitalization over the three months to end of March, a sharp slowdown from previous quarters, commodities rally cools and gold is suffering from its worst first trimester in decades.
Measured since the peak of the pandemic in March-April last year, the index has now recovered to a stunning $ 636 billion thanks to a boom in green infrastructure spending – not only in China, but across Europe and the United States.
One indication of the magnitude of the rally in mining stocks last year is the fact that a year ago a valuation of just over $ 4 billion helped a company reach the Top 50. while today the number 50 on the list, Tianqi Lithium, is valued at over $ 8.5 billion. Companies with a market capitalization of around $ 4 billion are now in the mid-1960s.
IPO of iron ore
Iron ore prices again above $ 170 per tonne have ignited a fire under major producers, increasing the value of BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue this year, and (with the help of platinum group metals roaring) elevated Anglo American to fourth, the highest in the rankings. years for the company whose roots go back more than a century in Johannesburg.
One of the biggest IPOs since Glencore in 2011 came on the back of steel commodity performance with Brazil’s CSN Mineração starting at 47 with a market value of over $ 9 billion as of March 31. The mining unit of steel giant Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional currently produces around 33 million tonnes of ore per year, but has ambitious plans to triple that number over the next decade.
U.S. iron ore producer Cleveland Cliffs has managed to climb 35 spots over the past year, entering the top 50 for the first time after rising nearly 400% last year.
Tarnished gold
The relative underperformance of gold and silver has seen a handful of gold companies, including B2Gold, Yamana, Kinross and streamer Royal Gold, fall into the top 50.
The combined value of gold, silver and streaming companies in the rankings is now 16% of the index, up from 26% when gold prices peaked in the third quarter of last year . The industry has lost more than $ 50 billion in value since its peak, led by Barrick Gold, which has bled more than $ 14 billion since late September 2020.
This is in stark contrast to the platinum group metal producers who have jumped in the rankings – Impala is up 27 places after a 360% jump and Anglo American Platinum has added 250% in value in US terms and stands now just outside the top 10. The Johannesburg Listed meters have not only benefited from soaring PGM prices, but also from a strengthening rand.
Base metals
Freeport McMoRan is up nearly 400% from its covid trough last March, joined by other base metal miners in the top performing list. KGHM briefly dropped out of the Top 50 at the end of the first quarter but is now back in 42nd place and Vedanta returns to the standings to 34 from 53 a year ago.
First Quantum Minerals has added nearly $ 10 billion in value over the past year and, like Vedanta, has climbed 19 spots in the past year, beaten only by PGM specialists.
Another indication of the extent of the recovery from the pandemic lows of a year ago is that among the worst performing, only two companies – Shandong Gold and Coal India – actually posted a decline in dollar value. Americans over the past year.
