The global mining industry generated more than US$900bn in revenue in 2023, supplying the raw materials that underpin steel production, electronics, energy infrastructure and the battery supply chains driving the shift to electric vehicles.
The 10 companies ranked here are among the largest and most influential operators in the sector, collectively producing iron ore, copper, gold, nickel, zinc, cobalt and coal across more than 50 countries.
10. Barrick Gold Corporation
Founded: 1983
HQ: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
CEO: Mark Bristow
Barrick Gold is one of the world’s largest gold producer by output and consistently ranks as one of the most valuable gold mining companies by market capitalisation.
The company produced approximately US$4.05mn ounces of gold in 2023, alongside roughly 420 million pounds of copper.
Key assets include Nevada Gold Mines, a 61.5% owned joint venture with Newmont, the largest gold-producing complex in the world, and Pueblo Viejo in the Dominican Republic, in which Barrick holds a 60% stake.
CEO Mark Bristow, who took the role following the 2019 all-stock merger with Randgold Resources, has restructured the company’s African operations and renegotiated government agreements in Mali, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Barrick operates across 18 countries and has guided for production of 4.0 to 4.3 million ounces of gold in 2024.
9. Southern Copper Corporation
Founded: 1952
HQ: Phoenix, Arizona, US
CEO: Germán Larrea Mota-Velasco
Southern Copper is the world’s largest publicly listed copper company by reserves, holding an estimated 43.6 million tonnes of proven and probable copper reserves as of 2023.
It operates two primary mining complexes in Mexico, Buenavista del Cobre in Sonora and La Caridad in Sonora, plus the Cuajone and Toquepala mines in Peru.
The company produced approximately 969,000 tonnes of copper in 2023. Majority-owned by Grupo Mexico, which holds roughly 88% of shares, Southern Copper trades on the NYSE.
8. Agnico Eagle Mines
Founded: 1957
HQ: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
CEO: Ammar Al-Joundi
Agnico Eagle is one of the world’s largest gold producers, reporting production of approximately 3.44 million ounces of gold in 2023.
Its major operating assets include the Canadian Malartic mine in Quebec, the largest gold mine in Canada by output, Detour Lake in Ontario, Meadowbank in Nunavut, and the Kittila mine in Finland, Europe’s largest gold mine.
The company’s merger with Kirkland Lake Gold, completed in February 2022 in an all-stock deal valued at around US$13.5bn, significantly expanded its Canadian asset base.
7. Freeport-McMoRan
Founded: 1912
HQ: Phoenix, Arizona, USA
CEO: Richard Adkerson
Freeport-McMoRan is the world’s largest publicly traded copper producer. Its flagship asset is the Grasberg mining complex in Papua, Indonesia, which contains the world’s largest gold reserve and one of its largest copper deposits.
Freeport operates the mine through PT Freeport Indonesia, in which Indonesian state enterprise MIND ID holds a 51% stake following a 2018 divestment agreement.
The company also operates the Morenci mine in Arizona, the largest copper mine in North America, and assets in Peru and the Americas.
The company is investing in underground block cave expansion at Grasberg to sustain long-term production as the open pit nears depletion.
6. Grupo Mexico
Founded: 1978
HQ: Mexico City, Mexico
CEO: Germán Larrea Mota-Velasco
Grupo Mexico is Latin America’s largest mining company and one of the world’s biggest copper producers, operating through its 88%-owned subsidiary Southern Copper Corporation.
Its mining division also includes ASARCO, acquired in 2009 for US$2.2bn, which operates copper mines and smelters in Arizona, Texas and Utah.
The group’s infrastructure division, Infraestructura y Transportes Mexico, runs approximately 6,900 kilometres of rail track in Mexico. Grupo Mexico is privately controlled by billionaire Germán Larrea, estimated by Forbes to be worth around US$27bn as of 2024.
5. Newmont Corporation
Founded: 1921
HQ: Denver, Colorado, USA
CEO: Tom Palmer
Newmont is the world’s largest gold mining company by production, reporting approximately 6.0 million attributable gold ounces in 2023 following its acquisition of Newcrest Mining, which closed in November 2023 for approximately US$19.2bn.
The company operates mines across Nevada, Ghana, Australia, Peru, Suriname, Canada and Papua New Guinea. Prior to the Newcrest deal, Newmont had already transformed its scale with the 2019 acquisition of Goldcorp for US$10bn.
4. Glencore
Founded: 1974
HQ: Baar, Switzerland
CEO: Gary Nagle
Glencore is one of the world’s largest diversified natural resource companies, combining mining and metals processing with a major commodity trading division.
The company reported total revenues of approximately US$238bn in 2023, although this figure includes pass-through trading volumes. Glencore produces copper, zinc, nickel, cobalt, coal and ferroalloys across more than 35 countries.
It is the world’s largest cobalt producer, a position of growing strategic importance given cobalt’s role in lithium-ion batteries. In 2024, Glencore approached Rio Tinto about a potential merger; Rio Tinto rejected the approach.
3. Vale S.A.
Founded: 1942
HQ: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
CEO: Gustavo Pimenta
Vale is the world’s largest producer of iron ore and iron ore pellets, and the world’s largest producer of nickel. The company shipped approximately 321 million tonnes of iron ore in 2023 from its Northern and Southeastern systems in Brazil.
Its Carajás iron ore complex in Pará state is the largest iron ore mine in the world. Vale reported net revenues of approximately US$41.8bn in 2023. In January 2019, a tailings dam at its Brumadinho iron ore facility collapsed, killing 270 people and causing severe environmental damage to the Paraopeba River basin.
Vale reached a US$7.1bn reparations agreement with Brazilian authorities in 2021.
2. Rio Tinto
Founded: 1873
HQ: London, UK / Melbourne, Australia
CEO: Jakob Stausholm
Rio Tinto is one of the world’s largest mining companies by market capitalisation, with operations spanning iron ore, aluminium, copper, lithium and minerals.
Its Pilbara iron ore operations in Western Australia produced approximately 331 million tonnes in 2023, accounting for the majority of group earnings. The company reported revenues of approximately US$54bn in 2023.
Rio Tinto’s aluminium business, Aluminium, is also one of the largest in the world, with smelters and bauxite operations in Australia, Canada and Guinea.
In May 2020, Rio Tinto destroyed the Juukan Gorge rock shelters in Western Australia, a 46,000-year-old sacred Aboriginal site, to expand an iron ore mine.
1. BHP Group
Founded: 1885
HQ: Melbourne, Australia
CEO: Mike Henry
BHP is the world’s largest mining company by market capitalisation, valued at approximately US$140bn as of early 2024. Its core operations produce iron ore, copper and steelmaking coal.
The Pilbara iron ore division in Western Australia produced approximately 260 million tonnes in the 2023 financial year. BHP’s copper operations, including Escondida in Chile, the world’s largest copper mine, and Olympic Dam in South Australia, produced over 1.7 million tonnes of copper in FY2023.
BHP reported revenues of approximately US$54.1bn in FY2023. The company completed its merger of petroleum assets with Woodside Energy in 2022, exiting oil and gas entirely.
In 2023, it acquired OZ Minerals for US$9.6bn, adding the Carrapateena and Prominent Hill copper-gold mines in South Australia. The Jansen Stage 1 potash project in Saskatchewan, Canada, is under construction with first production targeted for 2026.
