Just over 12 months ago at Mining Indaba 2014 and following a number of high profile fundraisings for private equity funds by key industry figures, private equity was heralded as a potential saviour of the mining industry. Bloomberg reported that$8bn had been raised by private equity funds for investment in mining projects. Despite this, and perhaps in part due to continuing falls in commodity prices, 2014 has been another difficult year for the industry.

In its Private equity in mining: Calendar year 2014 report Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) looks at 50 private equity investments reported in 2014. These investments saw over $2 billion of equity invested in mining companies by 30 private equity funds. “This activity should only be the beginning, as private equity investment in the mining industry builds momentum. Assuming funds seek to deploy their capital over a two to three year investment horizon, there remains at least a further $6 billion to be invested in the next 18 months to two years.”

As these funds seek to deploy their capital BLP says “we can expect further, more significant, private equity investment in the mining industry in the next 12 months.