At a time of continued global volatility and pressure on profits, ICMM members returned a higher share of earnings to society, according to ICMM’s 2025 Tax Contribution Report. The report shows that total tax and royalty payments fell 11.6% compared with 2023, while the combined tax and royalty rate rose to 42.5%, underscoring mining’s role as a cornerstone of public revenues in host countries.
The 2025 Tax Contribution Report can be accessed here.
ICMM members also increased investments in employment, social programs and infrastructure, producing lasting benefits for communities across the mining lifecycle. In 2025 they supported 582,000 jobs, a 2.1% increase year on year; paid US$45.5 billion in wages and related payments, up 10.5%; paid US$217.4 billion to suppliers, up 6.6%; and invested US$1.6 billion in community and social programs, up 2.6%. These results indicate that ICMM members remained reliable partners for host countries and governments, returning a higher percentage of reduced profits while expanding social and community investments.
The report notes that minerals remain critical to modern technologies and that responsible production can drive development. It adds that the world will need significantly more mining in the future and that ICMM members’ contributions in 2024 illustrate how mining can support shared prosperity.
ICMM members made a combined contribution of US$37.1 billion in corporate income tax and royalty payments in 2025, comprising US$25.1 billion in corporate income tax and US$12.1 billion in royalties. Since 2013, members have reported US$398.2 billion in total corporate income tax and royalty charges and US$404.7 billion in total corporate income tax and royalty payments. Compared with total adjusted profits of US$1,076.2 billion reported over the same period, this equates to more than US$37 of every US$100 of profit being charged and paid in corporate income tax and royalties.
The findings highlight the mining industry’s cyclicality and the importance of mutually agreeable fiscal frameworks that balance public revenue needs with companies’ capacity to reinvest in the social and economic development of the communities where they operate.
Rohitesh Dhawan, president and CEO of ICMM, addressed these issues at his recent keynote address to the 35th BMO Capital Markets Global Metals at the Mining and Critical Minerals Conference. Dhawan said we are now at the start of "a different type of mining Supercycle."
He mentioned that unlike with past booms, stacked, multi‑decade demand is meeting structurally slow, constrained supply. This means the cycle will not be defined solely by price; it will be shaped by how reliably value is created and shared over time, with tax contributions as one example.
Dhawan's address can be found here.
More information is available at www.Icmm.com
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