Mining Industry Adjusts to Reduced Operations During COVID-19 Slowdown, an Industrial Info Market Brief

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The global mining industry continues to slow production and place some operations on care and maintenance (shuttered) in accordance with COVID-19 precautions. Most of these are temporary shutdowns for several weeks to months, but they are being extended as needed.

Slowing demand in the Metals & Minerals Industry that is resulting from industrial complex closures and consumer slowdowns will have a longer-term impact on demand, with the trend unfolding over the next year. Some of these projects are being delayed from two months to a year.

Some countries have ordered a complete lockdown of all mines, including Argentina, parts of Canada, Chile, Peru, Mexico and South Africa. Other countries have announced partial lockdowns while allowing some operations to continue. In several countries, including India and the U.S., mining has been deemed "essential" by the federal government, while states are deciding their own courses of action. West Virginia has declared mining essential, while Pennsylvania is not.

Mining firms are instituting company-wide precautions, in some cases placing mines on care and maintenance and scaling back operations. Glencore, one of the world's largest globally diversified natural resource companies, has placed several mines on care and maintenance in reaction to COVID-19 mandates in Chad, Colombia, Quebec and South Africa. In Australia, a country which has not yet seen widespread closures, fly-in- fly-out (FIFO) mining operations, especially those in remote parts of Western Australia and Queensland, are being impacted by restrictions to air travel.

Click here for a list of Metals & Minerals Industry projects worldwide that have been affected by COVID-19, and see graph below for a breakdown by country.