At the turn of the year, the mining industry is witnessing multiple upsurges of intensive policy implementation, technological breakthroughs, and accelerated resource integration. At the national level, efforts are made not only to consolidate the bottom line of safe production through precise supervision, but also to boost the intelligent upgrading of the industry by building a standard system. On the enterprise side, companies are seizing the policy opportunities and market prospects to set off a new wave of resource mergers & acquisitions and capacity optimization. The interweaving of these developments maps out a clear path for the high-quality development of the mining industry, indicating that the sector will accelerate its progress on a track of safety, intelligence and efficiency.
Targeted Policy Implementation: Improving the Quality and Efficiency of Safety Supervision, and Standard System Supporting International Development
Recently, the quarterly regular press conference of the National Mine Safety Administration has released a number of industry regulatory signals, focusing on three core directions: quality and efficiency improvement, risk prevention and control, and long-term governance. Data shows that by the end of 2025, the number of fatalities in mine safety accidents nationwide has decreased by 6.1% year-on-year; the number of major accidents and related fatalities have dropped by 6.3% and 17.1% year-on-year respectively, maintaining an overall stable and positive momentum in safe production. This achievement is attributed to the systematic restructuring of the regulatory mechanism: by formulating and revising a series of law enforcement standards, the number of coal mine law enforcement inspections has decreased by 34% year-on-year, while the average number of hidden dangers identified per inspection has increased by 50.5%; for non-coal mines, the number of random inspections has fallen by 28.5% year-on-year, with a 32.2% rise in the average number of problems detected per inspection. This truly achieves the goal of “reducing inspection frequency without compromising intensity, and easing enterprise burden without sacrificing quality and efficiency”.
In terms of risk prevention and control as well as long-term governance, a number of concrete and impactful measures have been put into effect and yielded positive results. All coal mines in normal production and construction, 354 high-slope metal and nonmetal open-pit mines, 1,567 underground mines, and all active tailings ponds nationwide have completed the connection of perception data to the network, establishing a comprehensive risk monitoring and early warning system. Targeting the long-standing safety hazard of abandoned mine tunnels, a special rectification campaign has identified a total of 97,826 abandoned mine tunnels of various types, with 91,332 of them sealed, achieving a sealing rate of 93.36%. A total of 568 related cases have been investigated and handled, and 403 individuals have been subject to criminal penalties, effectively curbing the illegal acts of unauthorized mining. Notably, the regulatory authorities will also explore the establishment of a list of minor violations exempt from penalties in coal mine safety production, promoting both standardized law enforcement and burden reduction for enterprises, and achieving a synergy between supervision and enterprise development.
The internationalization of the standard system is accelerating in parallel. Since the establishment of the Belt and Road Mining Standard Internationalization Working Group, it has promoted the pre-project approval of 2 ISO international standard proposals, advanced 5 proposals to the international voting stage, and successfully hosted the ISO/TC82 (Mining) 2025 Conference. These efforts have built an important platform for the export of China’s mining equipment, technologies and services. Meanwhile, the Standards for Identifying Major Hidden Hazards in Metal and Nonmetal Mines has been upgraded to a departmental regulation; 10 mine safety industry standards have been issued; and 34 mandatory national standard special plans have been launched, further improving the top-level design of the mine safety standard system.
Breakthroughs in Intelligent Transformation: From Standalone Equipment Intelligence to System Collaboration, Full-Process Digitalization Becomes the Mainstream
Recent years have seen multiple milestone achievements in mine intelligent construction, marking a new stage of China’s mine intelligent transformation evolving from single-point breakthroughs to system-wide collaboration. On December 24, the country’s first set of unmanned intelligent mine collaborative system integrating mining, loading, transportation, waste dumping and coal preparation was put into operation at Huaneng Northern Weijiamao Open-Pit Coal Mine. Integrating cutting-edge technologies such as 5G, Beidou high-precision positioning and artificial intelligence, the system has built a full-process unmanned operation line, realizing zero personnel access in key production areas. This not only ensures intrinsic safety, but also significantly improves production efficiency.
In the field of full-process digital management and control, the practice of Angang Mining Qidashan Iron Mine has become an industry benchmark. As a mining enterprise selected as the 2025 Excellent-Level Intelligent Factory, it has built an “end-edge-cloud-network collaboration” architecture, enabling every piece of ore in its 1.9 billion-ton reserve to have a digital ID. Through the linkage between the 3D geological model and the intelligent control center, the time required for calculating ore output and grade has been shortened from 3 days to 10 minutes. Meanwhile, it can conduct real-time monitoring of personnel safety status in high-risk areas, with positioning accuracy and vital sign monitoring capabilities reaching the advanced level of the industry. The implementation of these cases has verified the practical value of the Guidelines for the Intelligent Construction of Metal and Nonmetal Mines, and provided replicable and scalable solutions for the intelligent transformation of the industry.
Accelerated Resource Integration: Dual-Driven by Mergers & Acquisitions and Mining Rights Acquisition, Strategic Mineral Layout Becomes the Focus
Driven by both favorable policies and market demand, listed mining companies have recently carried out intensive asset mergers & acquisitions and mining rights acquisition, setting off a new upsurge of resource integration. On December 30, Baodi Mining announced the acquisition of 87% equity of Congling Energy by way of issuing shares and paying cash. Upon completion of the transaction, the company’s iron ore resource reserves will increase from 380 million tons to approximately 460 million tons, a growth rate of 21.75%, significantly enhancing its sustainable operation capacity. On the same day, Guocheng Mining completed the acquisition of 60% equity of Guocheng Industrial, adding molybdenum concentrate mining and dressing business to its original lead-zinc-copper operations. This has further enriched its product structure, enabling it to enter the molybdenum metal application fields such as high-end manufacturing and military industry, and develop new profit growth points.
Direct acquisition of mining rights has become another important path for enterprises to consolidate their resource base. A wholly-owned subsidiary of Western Mining recently obtained the mining license for a polymetallic mine in Qinghai, covering various strategic minerals including iron, sulfur, copper, zinc, lead and gold, further strengthening its resource advantages in the nonferrous metal sector. Industry experts point out that high-quality mineral resources are becoming increasingly scarce. Coupled with the long-term rigid demand for strategic minerals such as copper, lithium and nickel from fields like new energy vehicles, power grid upgrading and energy storage, mergers and acquisitions have become a core path for leading enterprises to expand scale, reduce costs and enhance bargaining power. In addition, the release of the Guidelines for Applying for 2025 Science and Technology Support Projects of the New Round of Prospecting Breakthrough Strategic Action by the Ministry of Natural Resources, as well as the planning and deployment of prospecting breakthroughs in provinces such as Yunnan and Gansu, have injected strong policy impetus into the exploration, development and industrial integration of mineral resources.
Deepened Safety Co-Governance: Reporting Rewards Show Effectiveness, National Supervision Atmosphere Grows Stronger
The social governance mechanism for safe production is continuously improved, with public reporting emerging as an important force in eliminating potential accidents and cracking down on illegal acts. Among the 5 work safety reporting cases recently announced by the Ministry of Emergency Management, 3 involve illegal and irregular acts in the mining sector, including major hidden dangers such as coal mine overstaffing, overcapacity production and unlicensed mining in metal and nonmetal mines. The relevant enterprises have all been punished in accordance with the law, and the whistleblowers have received a maximum reward of 295,000 yuan. The investigation and punishment of typical cases such as an underground excavation face in a coal mine in Inner Mongolia being overstaffed by nearly 70% and a coal mine in Yunnan exceeding its production capacity by more than 15% have not only formed a strong deterrent, but also highlighted the important role of national supervision in mine safety governance.
Mining enterprises have also significantly enhanced their awareness of taking the initiative to identify hidden dangers. Data shows that since 2025, mining enterprises have reported more than 730,000 hidden dangers internally, and issued over 61 million yuan in internal rewards, forming a sound safety management atmosphere characterized by self-inspection and self-correction, and clear rewards and punishments. A multi-level and comprehensive safety governance system is gradually taking shape, evolving from regulatory supervision to enterprise self-governance, and further to national supervision.
Industry Outlook: Safety and Intelligence as the Two Bottom Lines, Resource Competitiveness Becomes the Core Barrier
Based on recent industry developments, the mining industry is in a critical period of transformation driven by policies, technologies and market restructuring. In the future, safe production will remain an insurmountable bottom line. With the implementation of measures such as the list of minor violations exempt from penalties and the intelligent supervision system, supervision will become more targeted and flexible, and the internal motivation of enterprises for safety governance will be further stimulated. Intelligent construction will shift from pilot demonstration to large-scale promotion, with multi-link collaboration and full-process digitalization becoming the mainstream trend, driving the fundamental transformation of the industry from labor-intensive to technology-intensive. Resource integration will continue to deepen, with leading enterprises continuously improving their strategic mineral reserves and product diversification capabilities through mergers, acquisitions, restructuring and prospecting breakthroughs. Global resource competitiveness will become the core barrier for enterprises in the industry.
For industry participants, keeping up with policy guidance, laying out intelligent technologies and consolidating resource foundations will be the key to navigating the industry cycle and achieving sustainable development.
