Profits generated by the province’s largest mines have surpassed their 2013 levels after a significant dip in 2015, when their average loss was more than $600 million.
In 2016, average profits returned to the black, improving to $62.9 million. In 2017, profits continued to grow, increasing 220% to $201.3 million from 2016, according to Business in Vancouver’s Biggest Mining Companies in B.C. list.
The two largest mining companies, Teck Resources Ltd. (TSX:TECK.B) and Goldcorp Inc. (TSX:G), were mainly responsible for 2015’s declines in profit. Goldcorp’s net income fell to below -$5.3 billion in 2015, with revenues of $5.6 billion. Teck also suffered a large net-income loss in 2015 of just under $2.5 billion. Since 2015, both companies have had an increase in net income, but not in revenue. Of the two largest mining companies in British Columbia, only one reported a revenue increase in 2017 from 2016. Teck posted the biggest revenue increase of B.C.’s top five mining companies. It was up 29.6% to $12 billion in 2017 compared with $9.3 billion in 2016.
Companies lower on the list did not experience the same extreme income declines suffered by the two largest mining companies in the province. No. 3 Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. (TSX:TRQ) and No.5 Pan American Silver Corp. (TSX:PAAS) each reported net income increases in 2015, bucking the trend set by the industry’s top players.
Average revenue for the top mining companies in the province fell 3.7% since 2015, while average asset value declined by 16.7%.
In 2017, median revenue fell 21.4% to $480.7 million from $611.9 million in 2016. Over the same period, average revenue fell 5.6%, which points to companies higher on BIV’s list of B.C.’s biggest mining companies experiencing significantly smaller revenue declines than companies ranking in the middle of the list.
