Amman Mining Breaks into World’s Top Mining Companies Ranking, Creating Six New Billionaires

Overall, the market’s pessimistic sentiment is evident from the list of the top-performing companies in Q3—this list included, for the first time, three companies whose stock prices actually declined during the period. Amman Mining’s Rise As the first Indonesian company to enter MINING.COM’s Global 50 Most Valuable Mining Companies ranking, Amman Mining surged 213% in USD terms, achieving a market capitalization nearing 450 trillion Indonesian rupiah (over USD 28 billion) since its July listing on the Jakarta Stock Exchange. Amman Mining owns and operates the Batu Hijau copper-gold mine, which remains in production, and is developing the Elang project adjacent to Batu Hijau. Elang is one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper-gold porphyry deposits and is currently in the feasibility stage, holding 4.7 million tonnes of copper reserves and over 15 million ounces of gold. According to Bloomberg, Amman Mining’s rise has created at least six new billionaires—including Chairman Agus Martowardojo, whose stake in the company is now valued at USD 2.7 billion. The mining firm’s stellar market performance also added USD 4 billion to the net worth of Anthoni Salim, head of one of Indonesia’s largest conglomerates. In stark contrast, Harita Nickel—a major Indonesian mining company—has fared very differently. It listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in April this year, raising USD 672 million; however, its share price has plunged over 60% since then amid persistently falling nickel prices. Lithium’s Decline While lithium markets outside China have shown remarkable strength, battery metal prices have plummeted sharply since hitting an all-time high of over USD 80,000 per tonne in November last year. Nonetheless, the drop in battery raw material prices in Q3 caused the combined market capitalization of the six lithium companies ranked among the top 50 to fall by more than USD 30 billion over three months. The industry’s correction from its 52-week highs has been brutal: Pilbara Minerals—headquartered in Perth—saw its market cap decline by 31%, making it the best-performing company in the group. Mineral Resources fell by 37%, while Albemarle, SQM, Ganfeng, and Tianqi all dropped over 50%. Pilbara Minerals is the only company still posting gains year-to-date and entered the top 50 this quarter—bringing the number of companies headquartered in Western Australia to five, surpassing Vancouver as the city with the most representation in the ranking. Another Perth-based lithium miner, IGO, now faces slim chances of entering the top 50. With a market cap of USD 5.4 billion, it has slipped to rank over 60th. The planned merger between U.S.-based Livent and Australia–Argentina lithium producer Allkem is expected to close before the end of 2023—but even that may not be enough to lift the merged entity into the top 50. Their combined current valuation stands at USD 7.4 billion, which would place them just behind AngloGold Ashanti—the last company on the list—highlighting the dramatically divergent fortunes of lithium and gold heading into 2024. Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting successfully blocked Albemarle’s acquisition of Liontown Resources; this week, the U.S. lithium giant announced its withdrawal from the deal.

Instant Wealth or Total Loss? Unveiling the Investment Risks in the Global Lithium Mining Sector!

Third, the Yichun lithium mica mining region in Jiangxi Province. Yichun possesses the world’s largest lithium mica resources. In recent years, prominent enterprises—including CATL, Fulint Precision Machinery, Jiangte Motor, Yongxing Materials, Guoxuan High-Tech, and Tianhua Ultra-Clean—have continuously established operations in Yichun, generating strong industrial cluster effects. In 2021, Yichun’s lithium carbonate output reached 81,000 tonnes—accounting for over one-quarter of China’s national total. As of July 2022, Yichun’s lithium carbonate production capacity stood at 180,000 tonnes, representing nearly 40% of China’s national total. According to official projections from Yichun, output is expected to exceed 500,000 tonnes by 2025. Fourth, Chinese enterprises are actively participating in international mining cooperation—with notable results. Australia and Africa boast abundant spodumene resources, while South America hosts high-grade lithium brine deposits—both offering favorable geological conditions, high ore grades, relatively low development difficulty, and lower production costs—making them hotspots for investment. More than 15 Chinese firms—including Tianqi Lithium and Ganfeng Lithium—are engaged in overseas lithium mining projects, investing in or participating in over 22 projects, soon establishing overseas production bases. Global lithium market investment remains robust, but competition is intensifying—mining enterprises must remain vigilant against investment risks. First, exploration investment enthusiasm remains undiminished, and newly discovered resource volumes are expected to rise rapidly. In 2022, global lithium exploration budgets and the number of exploration companies both surged to record highs. The annual exploration budget climbed to USD 467 million—an 88% increase year-on-year and 68% higher than the pre-pandemic peak. The number of exploration companies reached 194—a 75% increase year-on-year and 42% higher than the pre-pandemic peak—both figures representing the highest levels since 2010. Second, the M&A market remains red-hot, yet high-quality large-scale projects are scarce. In the first three quarters of 2022, global lithium M&A activity continued heating up, exhibiting a pattern of ‘increasing volume but decreasing value’. Elevated lithium prices drove a sharp rise in M&A transactions involving small- and medium-sized projects. During the first three quarters of 2022, the total value of global lithium resource M&A deals fell 10.7% year-on-year, while the number of deals rose 56.7% year-on-year. Among these, the number of small- and medium-sized M&A projects increased 59.2% year-on-year. Third, downstream players across the industrial chain show strong intent to secure upstream resources, intensifying market competition. In 2022, some downstream industrial enterprises and non-industry players entered the lithium resource acquisition space—including Jixiang Co., Ltd., EVE Energy, Yahua Group, and BYD. Meanwhile, major mining enterprises continued expanding their resource portfolios through acquisitions—such as Ganfeng Lithium, Chenguang Mining, and Zijin Mining. Chinese enterprises’ lithium mining M&A deals sustained growth throughout 2022, totaling 13 transactions with a combined value of USD 3.007 billion. Fourth, the global lithium mining sector exhibits high concentration among producers—new entrants will face significant competitive barriers. In 2022, the top three producers—U.S.-based Albemarle, Chilean SQM, and Australian Pilbara—collectively accounted for 52.6% of global output. The top ten global producers together held 88.9% of total output, indicating extremely high industry concentration. Among them, three Chinese firms—Tianqi Lithium, Ganfeng Lithium, and Salt Lake Potash—accounted for 17.9% collectively. Fifth, future lithium salt production capacity will become geographically more concentrated near resource sites. From an industrial chain perspective, stakeholders across upstream and downstream are striving to build integrated, synergistic business models—to expand profits and strengthen pricing power.

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