Global Mining Deals 2010: Key Observations 2010

1. Number of transactions at all time high. Aggregate dollar values post impressive annual gains, but "mega deals" remain elusive.

The numbers are in—2010 results prove that the first decade of the millennium belongs to the mining sector! We tracked 2,693 global mining M&A deals worth $113 billion in 2010, bringing the decade total to over 11,000 transactions worth close to $785 billion. Indeed, the cumulative annual growth rate (CAGR) for mining M&A volumes in the decade ended 2010 was 21%. No other global industry sector has experienced comparable growth rates or volumes.

A closer look at the data:

• With 2,693 announced deals, volumes posted a 28% gain over 2009 and a 21% gain over the previous market peak (2007).