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.
A recent global survey of over 630 mine managers by Timetric’s Mining Intelligence Center (MIC) finds that more mines in Latin America are expecting significant increases in their spending over the next 12 months, in comparison to any other mining region.
Respondents were asked to outline any planned changes in expenditure on site in the coming 12 months, compared with the prior year. According to the survey, larger shares of respondents in Latin America were planning to significantly increase their spending in the next 12 months.
Respondents could choose either ‘significant increase’, ‘slight increase’, ‘stay the same’, ‘slight reduction’ or ‘significant reduction’. In the wake of current spending freezes in mining industries across the globe, the comparison of planned spending habits from different regions yielded interesting results. A share of 16% of respondents in Latin America had cited a ‘significant increase’ in their spending for the coming 12 months. This was the biggest share compared with other regions such as Africa with 10%, Asia with 9%, Europe (including the former Soviet Union) and Australia with 4%, and North America with 3%.
These results correspond with the number of operating mines in each region undergoing expansion. According to Timetric’s MIC, Latin America has the second-highest share of operating mines currently in expansion with 15%. This share was far higher than their neighbours in North America with only 2%. This is also higher than the share of operating mines under expansion in Africa and Asia with 13% and 7%, respectively.
In Latin America, over half (51%) of survey respondents make decisions regarding purchase of heavy mobile equipment at the mine site, and 44% within the country concerned, which emphasises the need to be well-positioned across the key countries in the region.
Nez Guevara, Senior Mining Analyst at Timetric’s MIC, says: “Latin America has a higher share of mines planning substantial increases in their spending within the next 12 months than any other region, and with the final decisions regarding equipment purchases being mainly decided at the mine site level, OEMs and their resellers need to ensure they are close to the customer to benefit from these additional investments.”
