Mining’s old guard needs strong medicine
A new report details subpar investor returns in the mining industry over the last decade, particularly big cap diversified companies which have not adapted to new realities.
Brazil’s Eike Fuhrken Batista is the world of mining’s richest man and has been on a roll so far this year, increasing his wealth by a third according to Bloomberg data.
But he took a few blows to the body on Tuesday.
After his oil and gas firm OGX – one of five public companies under Batista’s control – disappointed with reserve figures of only 110 million barrels at an offshore well called Tubarão-Azul or Blue Shark the company was beaten down 7.8%.
That decline and a generally bad day on the world’s stock markets meant $1,023,200,000 disappeared from Batista’s personal fortune on Tuesday.
Batista is now down to his last $30 billion and is in danger of dropping out of the top 10 if commodity stocks continue to slide. (The three who could catch Batista – Wal-Mart’s Walton siblings – only lost $100 million on Tuesday.)
A much more encouraging find on land by another Batista business could not reverse the steep declines.
CCX, Batista’s coal unit, also announced today that it discovered a 672 million tonnes reserve, making it the fifth largest coal deposit in the world, at San Juan in Colombia.
CCX is being spun off and will list separately on the Sao Paulo exchange on May 25.
Perhaps having a sixth publicly traded entity will help Batista cobble together another billion or so.
Click here for a profile of Batista >>
Click here for a countdown of mining’s billionaires >>
4 Comments
Dav2012
I ment this man in Dec. of 2000 at a mining confrence in Las Vagus Nevada. He is one of the most level headed nicest men I have ever ment. He is a ‘self made man’. when I grow up I want to be just like him………. Continued ‘good Luck’ Eike, my friend………..
Ed233
There are many investors who have skin in the game. The tenor of your article implies that you seem to like the idea that a billionaire has lost one of his billions over night. This article could have been prepared more as a teaching point to advise investors in the mining game that they must prepare for some significant losses when they are engaging in these types of investments. This gentleman didn’t become a billionaire by not taking chances that most people don’t have the guts to put skin in the game. That’s not to say that you go around throwing money without making due diligence. Again what is the point of your article other than to smack at the rich? Sorry but I’m not impressed. LOL
Whaaaaa
Then again, if he had 30,000 and lost 1,000, would that be a big deal? noooo. It’s all relative.Even if he lost 25 billion, he’s still awfully rich.
Dave41
Don’t be so grumpy. Like the rest of us I think he’s intrigued by the fact that anyone could take such losses in stride. Good luck to both gentlemen, theyre doing as good a job as they can.