The mining sector: profit-seeking strategies, innovation patterns, and commodity prices

Innovation in the mining sector is crucial for industrial, economic, and sustainable development, particularly for developing economies. It is important to understand the factors that stimulate innovation in this sector to upgrade productivity and growth. In the mining sector, innovation is driven by profit structure, which in turn depends strongly on commodity prices. We hypothesize two innovation responses to prices, which we test against existing evidence found in recent literature and available industry data. We find two different innovation responses to prices: exploration and in-house research and development (R&D) investments by mining companies increase as commodity prices rise, while the use of suppliers’ innovation intensifies when prices decrease. Policies to strengthen the sector should provide long-term support for the Mining Equipment, Technology and Services (METS) sector so that they can continuously invest in R&D to provide innovative solutions for mining firms, possibly extending to lateral linkages, applying digital and low-carbon solutions developed for the mining sector and beyond.