Abstract:
In recent years, the global economy has gradually recovered, the new energy industry has flourished, and the prices of mineral products have rebounded. New energy minerals such as lithium, copper and nickel have become hot spots for global mining investment. The current global mining investment environment is undergoing major changes. In order to further understand this change, the challenges and opportunities brought about by changes in mining policies in major mining countries, the changing trends in global exploration investment, and the prices and supply and demand patterns of major key mineral products are analyzed. Through research, it is found that the awareness of resource security in various countries has been significantly improved. In order to reduce external dependence, major global economies represented by the United States have introduced various policies to accelerate the construction of their own “critical mineral supply chain”. In terms of mineral species, compared with the increase in total investment in global solid mineral exploration, the increase in exploration investment in critical mineral fields such as copper, gold, lithium and nickel is more significant. In terms of investment methods, mining companies prefer to quickly acquire resources through mergers and acquisitions, and this trend will continue in the future. At the same time, the pace of overseas investment of Chinese mining companies has significantly accelerated, and large-scale overseas mergers and acquisitions have begun. Through statistics of authoritative data, it is found that China’s overseas investment covers a wide range, covering North America, Africa, Oceania, Latin America and the Caribbean, involving 28 mineral species such as gold, copper, coal, iron ore and lithium. Combining three typical cases, this paper concludes that Chinese mining enterprises are gradually shifting their overseas investment from a simple “resource acquisition” to a “full industry chain participation”, and adopting corresponding business strategies according to the different types of countries. In view of the risks and challenges faced by Chinese enterprises in geopolitics, market fluctuations and supply chains, it is proposed that in the future, measures such as strengthening the global supply chain layout, deepening international cooperation and resource diplomacy, and promoting technological innovation should be taken actively.