A new report says the mining industry's net profits increased 64% last year. Moreover, the report by Price Waterhouse Coopers says the industry's profits were 1,423% higher than its 2002 results. The leading revenue generator: copper, which netted $68.4 billion. Other metals that brought high revenues were nickel, zinc, uranium, cobalt, silver, aluminum and iron ore.

The report lists the top 40 public global miners by revenue, and the top four companies account for 43% of total revenue and 47% of profit generated by the mining sector before interest and tax. The top four companies by revenue are Anglo American with $33.1 billion, BHP Billiton with $32.8 billion, Rio Tinto with $22.5 billion and CVRD Inco with $19.7 billion.

Consolidations have been a major factor in the industry, the report's authors say. The report outlines that most of the acquisitions are being made with cash, including three significant all-cash buyouts: London-based Xstrata acquiring Falconbridge, CVRD's buyout of CAEMI and Inco and Eurozinc's buyout of Lundin.

"With rising commodity prices, acquisitions that are cash funded lead to a rapid payback and 69% of major acquisitions in 2006 were funded this way," according to the PwC report.

The report says that demand from Asia is among the fuels driving mining-industry revenue.

"The prospect of takeovers of companies of all sizes means that CEOs must remain focused, both on moving their companies forward and managing their position, in the current environment of mega-mergers: hunt or be hunted," says the report. The report also says that hedge funds continue to be active in the industry "and have impacted transactions and commodity prices due to the positions they take."