State interest in the mining sector continues to grow. The mining industry is now more important as revenue from taxes and royalties have become a major source of Government revenue for many of the major producing countries. This is significant as some industries such as iron ore have become massively profitable with prices rising approximately 250% over the last five years. This importance from a revenue perspective puts miners in a new "political class" with some government figures mistakenly perceiving these industries as a new eternal well of cash with which they can spray voters. In the last six months, there have been a number of new taxes and tax increases for different commodities in the largest producing countries.
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