There’s been some discussion on another post about Possum’s piece on the super profitability of the mining industry, so I think it’s appropriate to have a dedicated thread for the topic.
Possum’s post is here.
Peter Martin has picked out some highlights:
“In 2008/09, the Australian mining industry had a EBITDA/Revenue ratio of 43% while the world’s largest forty mining companies had a comparable estimate of 30%…”
“Our profits and our resources are simply too good an opportunity to pass up – even if the profit margins involved in Australia are seriously reduced. When the noisy miners say that their capital is mobile, they are dead right – their capital is indeed mobile, but in exactly the same way that every other mining firm’s capital is mobile, including the capital of the worlds largest forty miners…”
“Big Dirt walking away from Australian investment will be their loss, not ours – because someone else will simply take their place.
Big Dirt – welcome to capitalism.”
Update: Possum has published part two of his post today.
