This industry is growing like never before. Among the biggest players, you won't find any EU companies.

• The geopolitical situation has fueled price increases for some mining companies.
• Companies producing gold and rare earth elements are particularly valuable.
• There are no companies from the European Union among the leaders.

Mining.com, a mining portal, analyzed the valuation of companies in the industry. They analyzed the 50 companies with the highest capitalization. Unfortunately, the Polish copper giant KGHM , which ranks in the top 50 in this regard, is not among them .

To make it into the top 50, a company's market capitalization had to exceed $13 billion. KGHM fell short, currently trading at just over $10 billion.

At the top of the list of the most valuable companies, unchanged for many years

The leader, and has been for years, is Australia's BHP . The company is currently worth $143.3 billion . This represents an increase of about 15% since the beginning of the year.

Another Australian giant, Rio Tinto, comes in second place, with a value of $115.6 billion. This represents a 13.7% increase in value since the beginning of the year. Right behind it is Chinese giant Zijin Mining, currently valued at $114.8 billion. Interestingly, this company has already exceeded Rio Tinto's market value several times over the past three quarters. Since the beginning of the year, Zijin's market capitalization has increased by a staggering 109.7% !

However, such growth is nothing compared to the American company Coeur Mining . Its market capitalization increased by a staggering 535.9% ( $14.2 billion ) during the period under review. The second-largest company in the top 50, MP Materials, increased by an almost equally impressive 495.4%. To even make it into the top ten by market capitalization, the company's value had to increase by at least 155.9% during the period under review.

It's worth noting that KGHM would be among the companies with very high capitalization growth. At the beginning of the year, the company's shares cost around PLN 117, and now they're almost PLN 188.

Companies that have fared the worst this year include Amman Mineral (Indonesia), Shaanxi Coal and Ivahoe Minerals, as well as Teck, Glencore, and Coal India. Their valuations have either declined or increased only marginally, with Glencore, for example, only rising 3.1%. This was due to production problems or an overreliance on coal, which is losing investor interest.

New stars on the list of giants powered by critical raw materials

What fueled the rise in company valuations? Commodities were the most expensive. The list of the best-performing companies was dominated by gold and silver miners . These metals are breaking records amid global political and economic uncertainty . It's no surprise, then, that their producers are seeing dramatic increases in value.

Besides gold and silver, the second group of raw materials driving growth were rare earth elements . Due to their strategic importance and China's policy of supply blackmail, producers from other countries gained strength. For example, Lynas Rare Earth, a Perth-based company ranked 49th, has seen its prices rise by a staggering 290% since the beginning of the year.

Las Vegas-based MP Materials also rose to 43rd place on the list. Its dramatic increase in valuation is the result of a groundbreaking agreement with the Pentagon.

In the top 50, as many as 34% of companies were those involved in the production of rare earth elements.

In terms of location, companies from countries such as Canada, China, and Australia lead the list, with none from any European Union country.