Mining innovation, technological diversification and profitability

This paper explores the relationship between patent portfolios and profitability in the mining industry. We use WIPO patent data on mining innovation by 7,080 companies, including both mining companies and mining suppliers, across nine mining technologies, combined with Orbis profitability data. Our findings reveal a positive correlation between innovation and profitability for mining companies, but no significant relationship for suppliers overall. However, when examining specific mining technologies, we find that patenting in transportation-related mining equipment is strongly and positively associated with suppliers’ profits—likely due to the versatility and cost-effectiveness of these technologies across various mining contexts. Unlike suppliers, mining companies typically lack the capabilities to produce such transport technologies profitably and instead depend on external suppliers. In contrast, automation technologies show a negative link to supplier profitability, possibly reflecting the high costs and long timelines involved in developing such innovations. Finally, we observe that technological diversification across multiple mining innovation areas is unrelated to suppliers’ profitability and negatively associated with mining companies’ profits. This suggests that focusing on core technological strengths may yield better financial outcomes, at least in the short term.