The mining industry is one of the most established and multi-national sectors in the world and its importance to the global economy cannot be over estimated. The production of energy from coal-burning power stations may have seen significant changes in Europe over the past few years but in other emerging economies, such as in Asia, the use of fossil fuels is helping to maintain economic growth.
Even for those countries that are moving towards other alternative energy sources, rare earth metals are playing an increasingly important role in cutting edge technological devices. As a result, 2014 could be an extremely profitable year for mining companies.
Stocks
The vast volume of trades on the international financial markets, both of shares in the mining companies themselves and also in the commodities they produce, continues to confirm the importance the part the mining industry plays on the global financial stage. The biggest international mining companies have operations that span the globe and which involve all aspects of the production process, from discovery, extraction and exploitation.
Xstrata plc, Glencore, Rio Tinto, Anglo American plc and BHP Billiton are some of the biggest players and most famous names in the mining industry. But there are new companies emerging all the time that deal with various aspects of the industry and they can produce returns on investments almost overnight.
Processes
The mining industry utilises some of the most advanced technology and cutting edge processes across its wide range of operations.
The recent developments and improvements in hot tapping equipment mean that outages and downtime are being managed much more effectively, with the result that less production time is lost and the negative effects on revenue generation are minimised.
A diversification in extraction processes means that areas such as subsea and onshore fracking-based programmes are just two of the new ways in which exploitation of resources is being driven ahead into new territories.
Investing
With major companies being openly traded in the world’s financial markets, the chance to buy into the activities of some of the largest corporations in the world is there for investors both large and small.
Due to the nature of supply and demand and the increasing energy demands of rapidly expanding nations will continue to drive the mining industry. The raw materials play a pivotal role across the globe and their importance will continue to drive investment throughout 2014.
This post has been provided by Mirage Machines, manufacturers and supplier of portable machine tools for on-site machining applications including hot tapping equipment.
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