Global mining faces transformation amid security, tech and governance shifts

Global mining is entering a period of overlapping transformation driven by security logic, technological revolution and governance restructuring, with supply-demand divergence across mineral categories growing more pronounced, according to a global mining report unveiled on Friday.

The Global Mining Development Report 2026, compiled by the China Mining News of the China Geological Survey, was released during the ongoing 2026 China Mining Conference and Exhibition in Tianjin.

The report highlights striking contradictions in the global mining sector, where exploration spending at the source continues to decline while drilling activity and capital markets are heating up, and price gaps between old and new energy minerals keep widening, Zou Xiehua, head of China Mining News and lead compiler of the report, said.

"These constitute intuitive market signals of the current mining transformation," Zou said.

He noted that energy mineral demand has slowed overall, with oil supply outstripping demand and natural gas seeing simultaneous rises in production and consumption. Bulk minerals showed mixed performance. Among strategically important emerging minerals, nickel and lithium faced deepening oversupply, while precious metals such as platinum and silver remained in tight supply.

The report showed that global spending on solid mineral exploration fell for a fourth consecutive year to $12.4 billion in 2025, with grassroots exploration shrinking to just 20.8 percent of the total, the report said. Yet drilling projects and borehole numbers rose 9.9 percent and 31.2 percent year-on-year, respectively, with precious metals accounting for a prominent share of drilling activity.

Capital markets told a different story. Mining financing reached $21.43 billion and merger and acquisition deals hit $73.52 billion, with capital increasingly favoring mature mining assets with higher certainty, according to the report.

Behind the market divergence, technological revolution is reshaping the entire mining chain. AI-driven mineral exploration has entered industrial application; a detection system integrating space, air, ground and borehole is taking shape; driverless mining trucks are being deployed at scale; and vertical large language models for mines are expanding their application scenarios, the report said.

On the green front, new energy equipment now covers the full spectrum of mining and transport operations, and recycling of power batteries and magnet waste has shifted from strategic planning to scaled production capacity.

The underlying logic of global mining has also switched, Zou said. Supply chains have pivoted from prioritizing efficiency to security, with countries elevating critical minerals to a higher strategic priority, and sustainable development has moved from soft commitments to a core element of corporate competitiveness.

Major developed economies have deepened critical mineral security strategies, while resource-rich developing countries continue to advance resource sovereignty and diversified cooperation, creating multiple intersecting forces behind the overlapping transformation, the report said.

China has signed cooperation memorandums on geology and mining with more than 70 countries, and technologies such as driverless mining trucks, mine-specific large models and tailings recycling equipment have been deployed worldwide, Zou said.

The Green Minerals International Economic and Trade Cooperation Initiative, proposed by China, has attracted more than 20 countries and international organizations to join, and a sustainable mining code has been published. More than 5,500 green mines have been built nationwide, forming the world's largest cluster of green mines, the report said.

Zou said that China is willing to deepen capacity and technology sharing, promote international mutual recognition of green and intelligent mining standards, advocate fair, just and transparent trade and investment rules, and build an open, inclusive, cooperative, green and clean governance system for critical minerals.