At the end of the first quarter, the MINING.COM TOP 50* ranking of the world’s most valuable miners had a combined market capitalization of $2.41 trillion, up $250 billion so far in 2025.
The market correction for the world’s largest mining companies and the minerals that supply them with energy came a full month before the start of the US-Iran war, when gold and silver prices collapsed after reaching record levels at the end of January. Precious metals stocks Tank producers and signage After gold fell by double digits and silver entered a state of free fall.
Gold has traded sideways since then and is hovering above $4,700 an ounce, and silver looks safe above $70 an ounce at the moment, although that is still 50% below its gravity-defying high. While gold has not received the safe-haven investment that the hot war in the Middle East requires, the yellow metal is still showing a healthy 8% year-to-date gain. Silver is also trading in positive territory for 2026.
Copper is now down a modest 2% since the end of 2025 after hitting an all-time high of $6.50 a pound, or more than $14,000, the day before. Friday massacreBut at least one commodity trading desk says the leading metal is “Oversupply and overpricing“Even after the price per ton dropped by $2,000.
A lithium rebound has brought Chilean SQM (NYSE:SQM) and US producer Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) back into the Top 50 in Q4 2025, bringing the number of lithium stocks in the Top 50 to three (from a peak of six in 2022). The two companies, in addition to China’s Ganfeng Lithium (SZSE:002460), also joined the list of best performing companies during this quarter.
Mining specialties They did not completely ignore the warbut measured since the beginning of 2026, most stocks are trending well into positive territory with only a few exceptions.
The tide does not lift all boats
Among the highs, Barrick Mining (NYSE:B) stands out with a 5% year-to-date decline (versus Newmont’s (NYSE:NEM) 11% gain and Agnico Eagle’s 22% rise) as the company attempts to unlock value from its portfolio by separately listing its North American gold assets and following a growth path in copper (thus swapping gold for mining in the company’s name).
Barrick did Assembled a new leadership team to operate its mines in the United States and the Dominican Republic last week He tapped Goldman Sachs to lead the IPOBy some estimates, these assets could be worth $60 billion alone.
All things being equal, it values its risky operations in countries Such as the military coup in MaliIts copper assets in Zambia and its massive copper and gold project in Pakistan are worth just $10 billion at their current market value. Things are not going well at Rico Deck, and last week Parikh warned of “Significant increases“For the project budget and extended timeline.
Another underperformer, Amman Minerals (IDX:AMMAN), tops the worst-quarter list for the second time in a row with a 27% decline due to production issues and delays in smelter operation in Indonesia (a country that bans concentrates exports) knocking the counter down another notch or two.
Amman was the first Indonesian company to make the top 50 after its debut in 2023. After a fierce run, the owner of the Batu Hijau copper and gold mine and developer of the nearby Ilang project briefly cracked the top 10 18 months later, but it has been on a downward slide since then.
Punter favorite Ivanhoe Mines (TSX:IVN) has lost nearly a third of its value and after falling to a market value of less than $11 billion at the end of the first quarter, it is no longer in the top 50, with the cap rising to an $18 billion market cap.
Ivanhoe began production at the Kamoa-Kakula mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in mid-2021, the largest (and highest grade) copper mine to operate in decades. In 2024, the head of Zijin Mining, which owns 39.6% of the project and another 10 of Ivanhoe, said the company’s ambition was to make Kamoa-Kakula a million-tonne mine.
That dream has now receded into the distance. A year ago floods in the mine It led to a temporary suspension of production and a nasty fight between Zijin and Ivanhoe Production was slow to recover.
Just last week, Ivanhoe surprised investors eager to continue Ivanhoe’s success story in the DRC after cutting its 2026 production guidance to 290,000 to 330,000 tonnes, from 380,000 to 420,000 tonnes. Next year It would be more disappointing: Previously, the company said it would produce up to 540,000 tons, and now expectations are 100,000 tons less than that.
The $100 billion club
Since inception, two companies have headed the MINING.COM TOP 50 – BHP and Rio Tinto – the only mining companies with a fixed market capitalization of more than $100 billion (with wobble here And there). Prior to 2025, the only other company to earn this distinction was Vale (BOVESPA:VALE3) which was also trading above this level for several fleeting days during the first quarter of 2022, the market’s previous peak.
Now there are six companies with this distinction. Agnico Eagle (TSX:AEM) in January of the year entered the ranks of the triple-digit billion-dollar mining company.
The Toronto-based company joins Chinese champion Zijin Mining (SHA: 601899), Southern Copper (NYSE: SCCO), the mining arm of Grupo Mexico, and Denver’s Newmont Corporation (NYSE: NEM) whose gold and copper prices rose all the way to the top at the end of last year.
BHP (ASX:BHP) managed to pass the $200 billion mark at the start of March, a feat no other mining company has ever achieved (and for the second time – the first time was in April 2022 although that only lasted a day). The Melbourne-based company reported bumper profits in its half-year report with copper, including by-products such as gold, contributing $7.95 billion to BHP’s operating profit. Iron ore tops for the first time.
BHP’s new CEO, Brandon Craig, will take over the helm of the company at the end of May He inherits a company that balances ambitious spending plans with investors’ expectations for returns After a period marked by bold – and not always successful – deals, most notably its failed bid for Anglo American.
BHP and Rio Tinto (LSE:RIO) once again retain the top two positions. Rio Tinto He was fired by Zijin and Southern Copper In January, however, traditional order appears to have been restored, with some light between the Anglo-Australian giant and its rivals.
Rio Tinto stock received a spike after the company said Monday that Obtained control of the necessary acreage in Arizona to build the Resolution MineIt is a project that is set to become one of the largest sources of copper in the United States. Rio Tinto said it will now embark on a $500 million drilling campaign to locate the deposit owned by BHP.
Glencore, Freeport rebound
Having always underperformed, Glencore ( OTCPK:GLNCY ) now has a better chance of joining the triple-digit club. Glencore is now valued at $87 billion, and year-to-date the company is now the top performer among mining heavyweights with a 37% lead.
The Swiss-headquartered company has weathered much of the fallout from U.S. and Israeli operations in Iran, in part because of its extensive oil trading business, which should do well as crude oil and gas prices rise and coal rebounds.
The company trades about 4 million barrels of oil equivalent per day. There was speculation last month from major investors in Glencore that the recent rise in coal prices It will help bring Rio Tinto back to the table For a new attempt to create the largest mining company in the world after meeting with the leaders of the two companies in Australia.
Freeport McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) came within $1 billion of $100 billion at the end of February after the stock rebounded from a September 2025 decline following a devastating mud eruption at an underground operation in a block cave in Indonesia.
Full production at Grasberg is expected to resume at a faster pace than early expectations. Restoration management objectives 85% of Grasberg’s production capacity by the second half of 2026. In February, the Indonesian Minister of Investment and the Asian country’s Freeport unit signed a memorandum of understanding to The company’s mining permit for the famous Grasberg mine has been extended beyond 2041.
It was reported in March that the Phoenix-based company had begun the process of obtaining environmental permits A $7.5 billion expansion It is majority owned by the Abra copper mine in Chile.
NOTES:Source: MINING.COM, stock exchange data, company reports. Share data from primary-listed exchange on December 30, 2025 close of trading converted to US$ where applicable. Percentage change based on US$ market cap difference, not share price change in local currency.
As with any ranking, criteria for inclusion are contentious. We decided to exclude unlisted and state-owned enterprises at the outset due to a lack of information. That, of course, excludes giants like Chile’s Codelco, Uzbekistan’s Navoi Mining (the gold and uranium giant may list later this year), Eurochem, a major potash firm, and a number of entities in China and developing countries around the world.
Another central criterion was the depth of involvement in the industry, and how far upstream is the bulk of its revenue, before an enterprise can rightfully be called a mining company.For instance, should smelter companies or commodity traders that own minority stakes in mining assets be included, especially if these investments have no operational component or even warrant a seat on the board? This is a common structure in Asia and excluding these types of companies removed well-known names like Japan’s Marubeni and Mitsui, Korea Zinc and Chile’s Copec.
Levels of operational or strategic involvement and size of shareholding were other central considerations. Do streaming and royalty companies that receive metals from mining operations without shareholding qualify or are they just specialised financing vehicles? We included Franco Nevada, Royal Gold and Wheaton Precious Metals on the basis of their deep involvement in the industry.
Vertically integrated concerns like Alcoa and energy companies such as Shenhua Energy or Bayan Resources where power, ports and railways make up a large portion of revenues pose a problem. The revenue mix also tends to change alongside volatile coal prices. Same goes for battery makers like China’s CATL which is increasingly moving upstream, but where mining will continue to represent a small portion of its valuation.
Another consideration is diversified companies such as Anglo American with separately listed majority-owned subsidiaries. We’ve included Angloplat (now Valterra) to track PGM representation in the ranking but excluded Kumba Iron Ore in which Anglo has a 70% stake to avoid double counting. Similarly, we excluded Hindustan Zinc which is listed separately but majority owned by Vedanta.
With other groups like Mexico’s Penoles where refining and chemicals make up a substantial part of the business where possible the Top 50 would include separately listed operating subsidiaries that are dedicated to mining. This is also why Southern Copper represents Grupo Mexico in the ranking.
Many steelmakers own and often operate iron ore and other metal mines, but in the interest of balance and diversity we excluded the steel industry, and with that many companies that have substantial mining assets including giants like ArcelorMittal, Magnitogorsk, Ternium, Baosteel and many others.Head office refers to operational headquarters wherever applicable, for example BHP and Rio Tinto are shown as Melbourne, Australia, but Antofagasta is the exception that proves the rule. We consider the company’s HQ to be in London, where it has been listed since the late 1800s.
Please let us know of any errors, omissions, deletions or additions to the ranking or suggest a different methodology: email Frik Els at fels@mining.com with Top 50 in the subject line.
