Iron ore production continues to grow

By: Maximilian Court | 12 June, 2017

The Worldwide Mine Production Trends report series examines the 2016 mine production trends and rankings of top producing mines by the five most valuable mined commodities - gold, copper, iron ore, nickel and zinc. The following article is part of the report series.

The largest mines lead the increase in global output.

Global mined production of salable iron ore grew an estimated 1.3% year on year to total almost 2,000 Mt (dry) of globally produced ore in 2016. This was led by increased production at the largest 20 mine operations, ranked by 2016 output, which saw production grow 31 Mt (dry), or 2.9%, year on year. Production increased at 12 of these leading operations, taking the top 20's share of global production to 53%, up from a 52% share from these same operations in 2015.

As the largest iron ore producing country, Australia hosted nine of the top 20 operations in 2016, with a combined output of 680 Mt (tonnages are dry unless noted otherwise). The participation in the list by Australian operations is constant from 2015, while Brazilian participation decreased by one operation and the Russian inclusion is a new entrant. Brazil's Samarco mine, a joint venture between BHP Billiton Group and Vale SA, exited the list, rather abruptly, following the tailings' dam catastrophe in November 2015 that created a tidal wave of mining waste and killed 19 people. This disaster removed approximately 30.5 Mt/y of pelletizing capacity from the market.

There was a jostling for position within the mine rankings, although the top eight places remained identical year on year at an operations level.

To read the full analysis of the top 20 iron ore mines by production in 2016, complete the form and download the report.