Last year, the agency had forecast a "relatively swift" recovery. Instead, oil prices have continued to fall, hitting less than $30 a barrel, a level last seen in 2003.
Anglo American and Freeport's credit ratings were recently slashed to well below investment grade – other marquee mining names may soon share the same fate.
When the worst collapse of commodity prices in nearly two decades finally ends, mining companies left standing probably will have more robots on their side.
Goldman Sachs report is the latest in a long line of grim warnings, all of which point to a future of shuttered power plants, mine closures, and bankruptcies.