The concentration of minerals in a few geographies is a major risk facing the mining industry, according to the “Mine 2025" report released by the PwC this week.
Andries Rossouw, report writer and PwC's Africa energy, utilities and resource leader, said the concentration of mining and processing in a small number of countries poses a risk that global supply prices will be affected by “location-specific” challenges including natural disasters, wars, social unrest, political or regulatory challenges and infrastructure failures.
“Copper spot prices, for example, hit an all-time high after the US announced in February 2025 that it was investigating the possibility of adding tariffs and US copper importers rushed to stockpile the metal,” Rossouw said.
Other countries and territories are responding to these issues through new investments, technological innovations and government actions, all of which are increasingly putting value in motion.
— Andries Rossouw, report writer and PwC's Africa energy, utilities and resource leader
He said the concentration of production and processing means that mining and processing territories can deter diversification by supplying sufficient quantities of material to keep prices low.
“Other countries and territories are responding to these issues through new investments, technological innovations and government actions, all of which are increasingly putting value in motion,” he said.
He said Australia, Canada, Chile, the US and countries in the EU have developed critical metals strategies to diversify mining production and resource locations.
While the natural endowment of countries cannot be changed, in contrast access to financing and government policies determine where minerals are produced and processed. Rossouw said there has been an uptick in the concentration of reserves and production of minerals over the years.
He pointed to China's dominance in mining, saying it had by far the highest “mineral concentration of any country”.
“It is responsible for more than 50% of production for 18 minerals, and it has a greater than 10% concentration of reserves for a further 35 minerals,” he said.
After China the US was the next richest country as it produced half of seven minerals and had more than 10% of concentration of another 12 minerals, he added.
“Processing of many minerals is highly concentrated in China, even those minerals of which China is not a primary producer,” said the report.
It said that despite the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) accounting for 76% of global cobalt used in batteries for electric vehicles, China was both the leading consumer and producer of cobalt. China had the largest foreign share of the DRC's mining assets after providing infrastructure investment in exchange for access to minerals, the report said.
It added that China was the leading producer and processor of the 17 rare earth minerals that are used in electronics and defence.
The report said uranium used in nuclear energy is mostly produced in Kazakhstan and often involves Russian ownership, which has become a concern after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The mining of manganese, which was predominantly in South Africa, was affected by maintenance challenges, poor infrastructure and extreme weather conditions. South Africa also accounts for about 80% of platinum group metals production.
The report said that 2024 was a challenging year for mining companies, with the exception of gold miners. It said revenues and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) for the top 40 global mining companies, excluding gold companies, fell 3% and 10% respectively.
Record prices in 2024 meant glittering financial performances for gold producers, whose revenue increased by 15%. Gold Ebidta rose by 32%.
The report said higher costs were eating profits for the mining industry, as overall Ebitda margins fell 22% compared with 24% in 2023.
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