Mega-miners will find good things in small packages

BEING a global miner is no longer all about size. The industry still depends on moving tons cheaply. But big producers must increasingly think like small ones. For companies like Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, that requires a change of mindset - and in some cases, leadership.

Commodity producers have for years chased bigger mines, larger diggers and longer ships. Valemax vessels, giant iron ore carriers, were so large that they were unable to dock in China for more than three years after they launched. BHP's attempt to buy Anglo-Australian rival Rio in 2008 epitomised the quest for scale.

When the commodities cycle turned downwards, empire-building bosses such as Vale's Roger Agnelli and BHP's Marius Kloppers made way for cooler heads. Divestments and writedowns followed. The need to cut debt curbed acquisitive tendencies.