Fire has emerged as the single largest driver of severe losses across mining operations, with nearly 30% of losses originating from just 2% of locations, according to new data from mining insurer FM’s Global Mining Report.
Hot work in particular continues to drive fire frequencies across operations, specifically where cutting, welding, or grinding is performed near combustible linings, belts, cable runs, hydraulic systems, or polymer-based materials.
According to FM, the exposure is increasing as more combustible plastics and composites are used around process equipment, while workforce turnover and experience gaps can weaken the practical controls that prevent ignition from becoming a major fire.
The second-largest driver of severe losses across mining operations was structural failures, accounting for 15% of losses. This is followed by electrical and mechanical breakdowns (14% each), floods (5%), and mobile equipment and geotechnical underground mines (4%).
FM reports that across all categories, the same pattern emerges. Losses are shaped less by isolated failures and more by how systems interact, how events escalate, and how well operations recover.
In increasingly integrated mining operations, the most effective risk strategies focus on reducing the potential for escalation. This includes controlling energy and containment, strengthening safeguards during non-routine work, and designing for separation, redundancy, and recoverability.
Losses by commodity
FM’s data highlights the loss experience across the mining sector, suggesting that risk is more consistently shaped by how an operation functions within the value chain than by the specific commodity being produced.
From 2006 to 2025, the data shows that bulk commodities and base metals continue to account for the majority of gross loss, reflecting the scale, throughput, and system integration of these operations. Bulk commodities account for 46% of losses, while base metals account for 30%.
Precious metals also remain a consistent contributor (23%), while battery and energy transition minerals represent a smaller share of total losses (1%).
Losses are amplified where operations are vertically integrated, restart options are limited, and substitution is not immediately feasible. In this context, FM says criticality is defined less by the mineral itself and more by the consequences of disruption.
Losses by equipment
The data also shows that a relatively small number of equipment types dominate loss outcomes.
Conveyors rank as the leading driver of operational losses, accounting for 32%, followed by heavy-duty mobile equipment (21%), motors (16%), mills (15%), and dryers (8%).
These assets operate under high loads and energy states, meaning relatively minor defects can escalate quickly into high-severity events, including fire, collapse, or consequential damage that extends beyond the initial failure.
Meanwhile, crushers make a smaller contribution to losses, accounting for only 1%, followed by non-rotational electrical equipment (2%), piping (2%), and steam turbines (3%).
FM’s insight is based on more than 60,000 site assessments and is helping organisations target risk management efforts through AI-powered predictive modelling.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: iStock & FM Global
