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Ranked: The Top 20 Metals and Mining Billionaires

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The Top 20 Mining Billionaires Ranked

Mining Magnates: The Top 20 Billionaires in Mining

Metals and mining can be a very profitable business for the individuals at the top, but success can also come and go based on volatile commodity prices. The average time to make a billion dollars in the sector is 16 years, compared to 21 years across all industries.

Although tech and bank CEOs get all the limelight, eight of the 100 richest people in the world are in the metals and mining industry. Today’s graphic shows the top 20 metals and mining billionaires, based on the Forbes Billionaires List.

Steel producers dominate the list, followed by copper miners.

Name Net WorthCountryCompanyOperations
Alexey Mordashov$29.1BRussia 🇷🇺Severstalsteel
Vladimir Potanin$27.0BRussia 🇷🇺Norilsk Nickelpalladium, platinum, nickel
Vladimir Lisin$26.2BRussia 🇷🇺NLMK Groupsteel
Germán Larrea Mota-Velasco$25.9BMexico 🇲🇽Grupo Méxicocopper
Gina Rinehart$23.6BAustralia 🇦🇺Hancock Prospectingiron ore
Iris Fontbona$23.3BChile 🇨🇱Antofagasta Plccopper
Andrew Forrest$20.4BAustralia 🇦🇺Fortescue Metals Groupiron ore
Alisher Usmanov$18.4BRussia 🇷🇺Metalloinvestiron ore/steel
Lakshmi Mittal$14.9BIndia 🇮🇳ArcelorMittalsteel
Wang Wenyin$13.2BChina 🇨🇳 Amer International Groupcopper
Dang Yanbao$12.7BChina 🇨🇳Ningxia Baofeng Energy Groupcoal
Savitri Jindal$9.7BIndia 🇮🇳Jindal Groupsteel/cement
Iskander Makhmudov$9.7BRussia 🇷🇺UGMKcopper
Alberto Baillères$9.2BMexico 🇲🇽Industrias Penolessilver
Andrei Skoch$8.6BRussia 🇷🇺 State Dumasteel
Zheng Shuliang$8.6BChina 🇨🇳 China Hongqiao Groupaluminum
Nicky Oppenheimer$8.0BSouth Africa 🇿🇦De Beersdiamond
Alexander Abramov$7.6BRussia 🇷🇺Evrazsteel
Rinat Akhmetov$7.6BUkraine 🇺🇦System Capital Managementsteel, coal
Igor Altushkin$7.6BRussia 🇷🇺Russian Copper Company (RMK)copper

Despite being major players in the mining industry, the United States and Canada don’t have representatives on the list.

Russia’s Mining Billionaires

Russia’s huge geographic area is filled with rich mineral resources providing a fertile ground for mining billionaires. It is the largest miner of diamonds and palladium, and the second-largest miner of platinum and nickel. It is no wonder this country hosts eight of the 20 richest people in the industry, including the first few on the list.

Alexey Mordashov, son of steel mill workers that had to use welfare coupons to raise the family, is the first on the list. The 55-year-old businessman is the majority shareholder in steel company Severstal. In the Forbes ranking, which takes into account the assets of the whole family, Mordashov ranks first among all Russian billionaires.

Next on the metals billionaire list is Vladimir Potanin, individually the wealthiest man in Russia and the owner of Norilsk Nickel, the world’s largest producer of palladium and nickel.

Women at the Top

The first woman on the mining billionaires list in the fifth spot, is Australia’s Gina Rinehart, Executive Chairman of Hancock Prospecting. The 67-year-old executive is the only child of legendary explorer Lang Hancock, who discovered the world’s largest iron ore deposit in 1952.

Hancock died in 1992, leaving a bankrupt estate to Gina. She rebuilt and expanded the company over the following decade. As a result, she became a billionaire in 2006 during the iron ore boom.

“If you’re jealous of those with more money, don’t just sit there and complain; do something to make more money yourself”

— Gina Rinehart

The list also includes the wealthiest person in Chile, Iris Fontbona. Iris is the widow of Andrónico Luksic, who built a fortune in the mining, financial, and beverages sectors, including the top copper miner Antofagasta.

A New Era for Mining Fortunes

As demand for most minerals increases due to new technologies and the energy transition, the world needs metals and mining more than ever and soon there will be a new list of billionaires who built their fortune on the minerals of tomorrow.

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Misc

Charted: The End-of-Life Recycling Rates of Select Metals

End-of-life recycling rates measure the percentage of a material that is recovered at the end of its useful life, rather than being disposed of or incinerated.

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A chart ranking the end-of-life recycling rates (EOL-RR) of commonly used metals in the economy, per 2021 data from the International Energy Agency.

Charted: The End-of-Life Recycling Rates of Select Metals

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on Apple or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

We visualize the end-of-life recycling rates (EOL-RR) of commonly used metals in the economy. Data is sourced from the International Energy Agency, last updated in 2021.

ℹ️ EOL-RR is the percentage of a material or product that is recycled or recovered at the end of its useful life, rather than being disposed of in landfills or incinerated.

Tracking recycling rates helps manage resources better and make smarter policies, guiding efforts to cut down on waste.

Ranked: The End of Life Recycling Rates of Select Metals

Gold has an 86% recycling rate according to the latest available data. Per the Boston Consulting Group, one-third of total gold supply was met through recycling between 1995–2014.

MetalEnd-of-life recycling
rate (2021)
🔍 Used In
Gold86%💍 Jewelry / Electronics
Platinum/Palladium60%🔬 Optical fibers / Dental fillings
Nickel60%🔋 Batteries / Turbine blades
Silver50%💍 Jewelry / Mirrors
Copper46%🔌 Electrical wiring / Industrial equipment
Aluminum42%✈️ Aeroplane parts / Cans
Chromium34%🍽️ Stainless steel / Leather tanning
Zinc33%🔗 Galvanizing metal / Making rubber
Cobalt32%🔋 Batteries / Turbine engines
Lithium0.5%🔋 Batteries / Pacemakers
REEs0.2%📱 Mobile phones / Hard drives

Note: Figures are rounded.

Several factors can influence metal recycling rates. According to this International Resource Panel report, metals that are used in large quantities (steel) or have a high value (gold) tend to have higher recycling rates.

However, for materials used in small quantities in complex products (rare earth elements in electronics), recycling becomes far more challenging.

Finally, a metal’s EOL-RR is strongly influenced by the least efficient link in the recycling chain, which is typically how it’s initially collected.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

If you enjoyed this post, check out Critical Materials: Where China, the EU, and the U.S. Overlap which shows how critical materials are classified within different jurisdictions.

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Misc

Companies with the Most Fossil Fuel and Cement CO2 Emissions

Half of the world’s total fossil fuel and cement carbon dioxide emissions in 2023 came from just 36 companies.

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Half of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions in 2023 came from just 36 companies. Here, we chart the world's biggest polluters.

Companies with the Most Fossil Fuel and Cement CO2 Emissions

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Key Takeaways

  • Half of the world’s fossil fuel and cement carbon dioxide emissions in 2023 came from just 36 entities, according to a report by the Carbon Majors Project
  • If Saudi Aramco were a country, it would be the fourth-largest polluter in the world, after China, the U.S., and India.
  • Five publicly traded oil companies—ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, TotalEnergies, and BP—together accounted for 5% of global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels.

Chinese Companies Dominate the List

This graphic is based on Carbon Majors, a database of historical production data from 180 of the world’s largest oil, gas, coal, and cement producers representing 169 active and 11 inactive entities.

In 2023, the top 20 highest carbon-producing entities were responsible for 17.5 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO₂e) in emissions, accounting for 40.8% of global fossil fuel and cement CO₂ emissions. The list is largely dominated by state-owned companies, with 16 of the top 20 being state-controlled. Notably, eight Chinese entities contributed to 17.3% of global fossil fuel and cement CO₂ emissions in 2023.

EntityTotal emissions (MtCO2e)Global CO2 emissions (%)
1Saudi Aramco4.4%
2Coal India3.7%
3CHN Energy3.7%
4Jinneng Group2.9%
5Cement industry of China2.8%
6National Iranian Oil Company2.8%
7Gazprom2.3%
8Rosneft1.9%
9Shandong Energy1.7%
10China National Coal Group1.7%
11Abu Dhabi National Oil Company1.6%
12CNPC1.6%
13Shaanxi Coal and Chemical Industry Group1.6%
14Iraq National Oil Company1.3%
15Shanxi Coking Coal Group1.3%
16ExxonMobil1.3%
17Sonatrach1.2%
18Chevron1.1%
19Kuwait Petroleum Corp.1.0%
20Petrobras1.0%
21Shell0.9%
22Pemex0.9%
23TotalEnergies0.8%
24QatarEnergy0.8%
25Lukoil0.8%
26BP0.8%
27Glencore0.7%
28China Huaneng Group0.7%
29Luan Chemical Group0.7%
30Equinor0.7%
31Peabody Energy0.7%
32Nigerian National Petroleum Corp.0.6%
33CNOOC0.6%
34ConocoPhillips0.6%
35Eni0.6%
36Petronas0.5%

Coal continued to be the largest source of emissions in 2023, representing 41.1% of emissions in the database and continuing a steady upward trend since 2016. Coal emissions grew by 1.9% (258 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent – MtCO₂e) from 2022, while cement saw the largest relative increase at 6.5% (82 MtCO₂e), driven by expanding production.

In contrast, natural gas emissions fell by 3.7% (164 MtCO₂e), and oil emissions remained stable with only a slight increase of 0.3% (73 MtCO₂e).

Learn More on the Voronoi App

To learn more about this topic, check out this graphic that shows greenhouse gas emissions by sector in 2023, according to data was compiled by the United Nations. The power sector remains the largest emissions contributor.

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