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The report says the medial total compensation for CEOs ranged from C$452,500 (for companies with assets values of C$100 million) to C$9.9 million (at companies with assets over C$20 billion).

The top earning mining executive was Mark Rosenthal, the COO and former chairman and CEO of MP Materials at C$29 million, which was 16.8% higher than the top paid executive a year earlier.

Barrick Gold’s Mark Bristow came in third at C$22.9 million, behind Cleveland-Cliffs’ Laurenco Goncalves (C$23.4 million) and ahead of Freeport McMoRan’s Richard Adkerson (C$21.1 million) and Rio Tinto’s Jean-Sebastien Jacques (C$16.8 million).

Chief operating officers were also well compensated. P. Harvey of South32 received a total of C$15.6 million, followed by Barrick’s Catherine P. Raw (C$7.2 million). The next highest-earning COOs were Robert Atkinson at Newmont (C$6.7 million), Clifford Smith at Cleveland-Cliffs (C$5.5 million) and Tracy L. Porter at Commercial Metals Company (C$5.4 million).

Raw was not the highest paid female executive. That honour went to Karla R. Lewis at Reliance Steel & Aluminium who earned C$13.2 million. That was more than double the highest compensation for a woman (C$6.4 million) in the 2020 report.

The list of well-compensated chief financial officers is lead by Nucor’s James D. Frias (C$10.4 million) and then Barrick’s Graham Shuttleworth (C$9.2 million), Anglo American’s Stephen Pearce (C$8.2 million), and Freeport McMoRan’s Kathleen L. Quirk (C$8.2 million). The top five in this category also included MP Materials’ Ryan Corbet (C$7.5 million).

Vice-presidents of corporate development also play a vital role for their employers. The top five were all from Canadian miners, beginning with Geoffrey P. Gold at Kinross Gold who received C$4.5 million. The list continues with Agnico Eagle Mines’ Jean Robitaille (C$3 million), Wheaton Precious Metals’ Haytham H. Hodaly (C$2.5 million), Yamana Gold’s Gerardo Fernandez (C$2.2 million), and in fifth place, Hudbay Minerals’ Eugene Lei.

The report found that compensation for board members varied widely across the companies they covered. Typically, it includes a base retainer, committee and/or meeting fees, and equity compensation (shares and options).

The best-paid board member was Anne Giardini at K92 Mining, who received C$2.2 million. Galiano Gold paid Paul Wright C$2 million; Antofagasta paid Jean Paul Luksic C$1.3 million; Marimaca Copper paid Michael Haworth C$1.2 million; and Stuart Chambers at Anglo American received C$1.2 million.

This is Bedford’s 12th annual report covering remuneration in the mining industry, providing insights and analysis, with particular emphasis on Canadian companies.