Mining firms with higher ESG ratings outperform the market.
Mining companies with high ESG ratings provided 10% higher shareholder returns during the pandemic Net profit in the sector up by 15% while market capitalisation up 64% to US$1.46tn Demand for minerals vital to clean energy to rise six-fold
Devika Nair 
Mining companies with higher ESG ratings outperformed the broader market during the peak of the COVID-19 crisis, delivering 34% average total shareholder return over the past three years — ten percentage points higher than the general market index.
The figures come from PwC’s 18th Annual Review of the Top 40 Mining companies - Mine 2021 - which examines the global trends in the mining industry. Net profit in the sector was up 15%, cash on hand rose 40%, and market capitalisation rose by nearly two-thirds to US$1.46tn.
There are further signs of optimism for 2021, with forecasts indicating that the Top 40 will report record-high revenue and EBITDA levels and the second highest net profit. Alongside this, the demand for the minerals that go into clean energy technologies is expected to increase six-fold in the next twenty years.
The survey also reveals that Top 40 coal production fell 12% in 2020. Deals fell from five in 2018 to zero in 2019 and 2020, highlighting the sector’s continued shift to net-zero.
This year, we see two Indian mining companies on the Top 40 list – Coal India Limited and Hindustan Zinc.
