The mining insurance market is showing signs of softening, creating more opportunities for negotiation. But Raul Muñoz (pictured), industry leader, mining & natural resources – North America at Marsh, cautions that chasing the lowest premium should not distract from the bigger picture: mining is a sector with unique exposures that require highly technical underwriting, deep risk understanding, and long-term partnership.
In a softening market, it may be tempting to chase marginal price reductions. But Muñoz emphasized that the true value of insurance lies in how coverage performs under pressure. “It’s more about finding the right partners – the companies that understand the technical side of your world,” he told Insurance Business during the RIMS Canada Conference.
“Insurance is really another form of capital – it only gets unlocked when something really bad happens,” Muñoz said. “At that point, what matters is whether you have partners who understand your risks and are there the day after a loss.”
According to Muñoz, the current environment is tilting toward buyers, with carriers increasingly open to negotiations and pricing pressure moderating. That reflects broader industry trends, but mining tends to follow its own rhythm. Because underwriters who take on mining accounts usually rely on technical reviews and detailed engineering assessments, the cycle is more muted compared to general commercial lines.
Yes, pricing is softer, Muñoz acknowledged, but the focus should remain on securing coverage that stands up in the event of a major loss. The cost differential of a slightly higher premium pales in comparison to the financial and operational damage of an uninsured or underinsured catastrophe.
“The gap in dollars between a really good outcome and a really bad outcome in a renewal dwarfs if the focus is just on premium instead of adequate wording and operational resilience,” he said.
One of the areas where mining is beginning to capture insurance attention is predictive technology. While other industries may focus on preventing product or process failures, mining companies face a different reality: the resources remain underground regardless of disruption. What they lose is not the commodity itself, but time.
“The biggest losses we see in mining, aside from natural catastrophes, are machinery and equipment breakdown,” Muñoz said. Investments in predictive monitoring systems are increasingly being used to forecast failures, whether in critical machinery or in the geology itself. These tools can reduce downtime, safeguard workers, and ultimately stabilize production cycles.
Discovery is another frontier where technology is reshaping risk. Muñoz pointed to a major ore body in southern Africa that was discovered solely through AI analysis – a first for the industry. Shortening the traditional average 17-year runway from discovery to production is not only a breakthrough for efficiency but also a material factor in how risk is assessed and financed.
Policy changes are also accelerating this timeline. Canada’s critical minerals strategy, which includes tax incentives and fast-tracked approvals for selected projects, is beginning to push mining projects forward more decisively. According to Muñoz, this proactive approach reflects lessons learned from US policy, which has nudged Canada into adopting a more supportive stance for mining development.
While technology promises efficiency, ESG pressures remain a defining theme for mining companies – and insurers. Muñoz acknowledged that the term ESG may be relatively new, but the mining industry has grappled with its elements, particularly social license, for decades.
“You cannot run a mine without community buy-in,” he said, noting that Western companies in particular invest heavily in securing local support. Beyond social impacts, environmental scrutiny has intensified. Mining contributes between 4% and 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions, depending on the metric used. Yet paradoxically, the path to net zero runs directly through mining.
“The transition requires copper, aluminum, nickel, cobalt, lithium – all mined commodities,” Muñoz stressed. This dual role makes mining both a target for emissions reduction and a critical enabler of global decarbonization.
Location complicates the picture further. In Quebec and British Columbia, access to hydropower makes it easier for mining companies to reduce emissions. In regions such as the Atacama Desert or Mauritania, clean energy is harder to come by, forcing companies to weigh costly technology investments against operational realities.
Most Western miners have set targets to reduce emissions 30–35% by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050. Achieving those goals will require not only technological change but also financing, partnerships, and tailored insurance solutions that account for the realities of operating in extreme or remote environments, he said.
