The Business & Industry Guides series is produced by the Library & Information Service for ICAEW members and ACA students.

We can compile tailored key players reports, mailing lists, market reports, benchmarking reports and industry news. Our enquiry team can also research other industry-specific information, such as taxation, for you. Call us on +44 (0)20 7920 8620 or email library@icaew.com.

Useful links

Top 10 risks and opportunities for mining and metals companies in 2025
Report published by EY examining the top business risks in detail and steps that companies can take to mitigate them.

Market research specialists

Market research reports focusing on this business sector are available from a number of market research specialists. In most cases these reports are available to fee-paying subscribers or on a pay-as-you-go basis.

Some free information is available from the following market research specialists, ranging from industry news to executive summaries of the reports.

Euromonitor
A full listing of reference products and research reports for the mining industry from Euromonitor, with a range of global, country and company level reports. Each report provides a contents listing and a useful executive summary reporting on the key trends in each country report.

IBISWorld
Business and industry research specialists offering reports on a wide range of sectors, including mining and quarrying. Report snapshots, table of contents and a sample report are available. The company also produces global industry research reports.

Office for National Statistics

The Annual Business Survey (ABS) from the Office for National Statistics collects financial information covering UK production, construction, distribution and service industries. Statistics available include:

• number of enterprises;
• total turnover;
• approximate gross value added at basic prices;
• total purchases of goods, materials and services;
• total employment costs;
• total net capital expenditure;
• total net capital expenditure – acquisitions;
• total net capital expenditure – disposals;
• total stocks and work in progress – value at end of year;
• total stocks and work in progress – value at beginning of year;
• total stocks and work in progress – increase during year.

The dataset Non-financial business economy, UK: Sections A to S includes statistics for:

• Mining of coal and lignite (05)
• Mining of metal ores (07)
• Quarrying of stone, sand and clay (08.1)
• Support activities for other mining and quarrying (09.9)

See Section B: Mining and quarrying.

Eurostat

Eurostat, the EU statistics hub, collates detailed Structural Business Statistics giving the latest figures for industry, construction, trade and services by sector and country. The indicators available include:

• number of enterprises
• turnover or gross premiums written
• production value
• value added at factor cost
• gross operating surplus
• wages and salaries
• social security costs
• gross investment in tangible goods
• gross investment in land
• gross investment in existing buildings and structures
• gross investment in construction and alteration of buildings
• gross investment in machinery and equipment
• number of employees
• number of persons employed per enterprise.

Statistics within the database are available for:

• Mining of coal and lignite (B05)
• Mining of metal ores (B07)
• Quarrying of stone, sand and clay (B081)
• Support activities for other mining and quarrying (B099)

See database section ‘SBS – industry and construction’.

Asociación de Industriales Metalúrgicos y de Minería (Venezuela)

The Asociación de Industriales Metalúrgicos y de Minería presents statistics on the metallurgical industry in Spanish, covering:

• employment and number of organisations
• exports
• imports
• GDP by sector.

Brazilian Mining Association

The Brazilian Mining Association offers several publications in English featuring detailed statistics:

National Mining Association (US)

The National Mining Association compiles US mining statistics, which includes figures on:

• coal exports, production, transportation and workforce;
• fossil fuel prices;
• minerals consumption, trade, transportation and workforce;
• gold and silver;
• state-by-state statistics;
• safety data and trends;
• employment by state and average salaries;
• machinery and equipment.

Indonesian Mining Association

The Indonesian Mining Association collates statistics on Indonesian mining production, exports, domestic supplies.

World Coal Association

The FutureCoal provides a selection of coal facts

INDSTAT

The UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) collects and compiles industrial statistics known as INDSTAT, which give information on:

• number of employees
• number of establishments
• output
• value added
• total wages and salaries.

Statistics by country are available for:

• Coke oven products (2310)
• Basic iron and steel (2710)
• Basic precious and non-ferrous metals (2720)

UN Commodity Trade Statistics Database (Comtrade)

The UN compiles and publishes international import and export statistics in the CommodityTrade Statistics Database (Comtrade), giving figures for goods traded by value, quantity and weight for each country.

Statistics are available for:

• Ores, slag and ash (26)
• Mineral fuels, oils, distillation products, etc (27)

UN Industrial Commodity Statistics Database

The UN provides statistics on the quantity of goods produced by country in the IndustrialCommodity Statistics Database.

Figures are available for:

• Coal and lignite; peat (11)
• Crude petroleum and natural gas (12)
• Uranium and thorium ores (13)
• Metal ores (14)
• Stone, sand and clay (15)
• Other minerals (16)

UK

The Office for National Statistics publication Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) includes average employment costs within this sector which can be found in Table 14. Average employment costs are provided for full-time employees, part-time employees and all employees.

The data includes average employment costs for:

• managers in mining and energy;
• coal mine operatives;
• quarry workers and related operatives.

The annual Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES), published by the Office for National Statistics, includes total employee and employment estimates for different industries for Great Britain and the UK. Figures are broken down to show full-time/part-time and public/private splits. The dataset Industry – Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES): Table 2 includes statistics for:

• Mining of coal and lignite (05)
• Mining of metal ores (07)
• Other mining and quarrying (08)
• Support activities for other mining and quarrying (099)

Other regions

Please see individual country profile pages for links to sources of national statistics.

UK

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has sections on mining and quarries, which include latest regulations affecting these industries.

Keep your business moving: Video explainers on new rules for doing business with EU
Suite of on-demand short videos from UK government for businesses on importing, exporting, rules of origin, tariffs, providing services to EU markets, Northern Ireland, data handling, hiring staff, and selling goods. Sector-specific videos also cover chemicals regulations, IP, emissions, waste, and Horizon funding.

Metals and other materials sector and the EU
Guidance for the metals and materials sectors on new rules from 1 January 2021. It covers importing and exporting, selling goods, trading with the EU, workforce, providing services, R&D funding, regulations, IP, and the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Africa

The World Bank and its partners has produced the African Mining Legislation Atlas (AMLA), a tool for discovering and comparing law and regulations for the extractive industry across Africa. The legislation covers ownership of resources, regulating bodies, licenses, prospecting, exploration, mining, artisanal or small-scale operations, quarrying and health and safety.

Trade Tariff

The Trade Tariff is a useful Gov.uk database listing tax, duties and licenses for the import and export of goods between the UK and other countries. The database is searchable by product or commodity code and results can be filtered by date and country. Information also includes links to relevant conditions and regulations.

See import and export information for:

• salt; sulphur; earths and stone; plastering materials, lime and cement
• ores, slag and ash
• mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation; bituminous substances; mineral waxes.

Trade journals, B2B magazines and specialist consumer magazines are another useful source of news and statistics.

• Asia Miner
• Coal Age
• Engineering and Mining Journal
• Equipo Minero
• InfoMine
• Minerals Engineering International
• Mining Journal
• Mining Technology
• Mining Weekly
• Quarry Management
• Rare Earth Investing News
• Tradelink – publisher of Coal International, Mining World and others
• Rock Products

The websites of trade bodies in this sector are a useful source of industry overviews, contacts and statistics.

UK

• ABMEC: the Association of British Mining Companies
• British Aggregates Association
• Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3)
• Mineral Products Association (MPA)

Europe

• Euromines
• European Aggregates Association (UEPG)
• European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers

Africa

• Association of Mine Managers South Africa
• Mining Industry Associations of Southern Africa (MIASA)
• South Africa Colliery Engineers Association (SACEA)
• South African Collieries Administrative and Financial Managers Association (SACAFMA)

Americas

• Asociación de Industriales Metalúrgicos y de Minería (Venezuela)
• Asociacion Obrera Minera (Argentina)
• Brazilian Mining Association (IBRAM)
• C´mara de Minería del Ecuador (CME)
• Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM)
• National Mining Association (NMA) (US)
• Sociedad Nacional de Minería (SONAMI) (Chile)
• Sociedad Nacional de Minería, Petróleo y Energía (Peru)
• Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration (SME) (US)

Asia

• Indonesian Coal Mining Association
• Mineral Resources Authority of Mongolia

Oceania

• Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (AMEC) (Australia)
• Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM)
• Institute of Quarrying Australia (IQA)
• Minerals Council of Australia (MCA)

Global

• FutureCoal
• International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM)
• Institute of Quarrying
• RARE: the Association for Rare Earth

Articles and books in the Library collection

• View a list of articles and books in ourcollection on the mining industry

To find out how you can borrow books from the Library please see our guide to book loans. You can obtain copies of articles or extracts of books and reports by post or email through our document supply service.