UK mining, quarrying and oil and gas companies in numbers (October 2026)
Key figures compared with the UK
| Measure | This sector | All UK | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active companies | 7,414 | 5,166,057 | 0.1% of UK |
| Median company age (years) | 9.6 | 5.6 | 71% higher |
| Incorporated in the last 3 years | 22.3% | 34.0% | 11.7 pts lower |
| Filing micro-entity accounts | 27.5% | 32.4% | 4.9 pts lower |
| Filing dormant accounts | 13.9% | 10.8% | 3.1 pts higher |
| Accounts overdue | 4.9% | 1.8% | 3.1 pts higher |
| Under a proposal to strike off | 8.7% | 7.4% | 1.3 pts higher |
| In liquidation, administration or receivership | 2.6% | 2.0% | 0.6 pts higher |
| With outstanding charges (secured lending) | 14.1% | 12.1% | 2.0 pts higher |
| Median net assets | £11k | £3,113 | 253% higher |
| Negative net assets | 14.1% | 18.8% | 4.7 pts lower |
| Net current liabilities | 29.7% | 36.2% | 6.5 pts lower |
| Median cash at bank | £26k | £10k | 160% higher |
| Cash covers creditors due within a year | 38.4% | 35.3% | close to UK |
| Holding £100k or more in cash | 32.5% | 20.3% | 12.2 pts higher |
| Median employees (where stated) | 1 | 1 | close to UK |
Balance sheet measures use each active company's most recent machine-readable (iXBRL) accounts with a period ending in 2024 or later: 4,969 companies here (67.0% of active). Net assets 25th to 75th percentile: £50 to £133k. Cash 25th to 75th percentile: £1,420 to £167k.
What the numbers say
Mining and quarrying is a small section, but it stands out on filing discipline and on balance sheet strength.
The most striking figure is the overdue rate: 4.9% of active companies have missed their accounts deadline, against 1.8% for the UK (see our overdue accounts data). Within crude petroleum and natural gas extraction the rate reaches 10.5%. Exploration and licence-holding companies are often part of international groups, have audited accounts to prepare, and some carry on with little activity while a licence or project is in limbo. That likely makes deadlines easier to miss. Dormant accounts are also more common: 13.9% against 10.8%.
Balance sheets are otherwise stronger than average. Median net assets are £11,000, about 3.5 times the UK median, median cash is £26,359 against £10,127, and 32.5% hold £100k or more in cash. The median current ratio is 1.53 against 1.19. Quarries hold land and plant, and oilfield service firms hold equipment, which partly explains the gap.
Negative net assets are less common: 14.1% against 18.8%. The trend differs from the UK too. The share was 12.2% for financial years ending in 2014, peaked at 16.0% in 2017, and was 13.8% in 2025, while the UK figure rose steadily to 18.6%. A negative balance sheet is a warning sign, not proof of insolvency (see negative net assets).
The companies are older (median age 9.6 years against 5.6), with only 22.3% incorporated in the last three years. The largest code is not extraction itself but 09100 support activities for petroleum and natural gas extraction (3,294 live companies), more than double the 1,276 companies in 06100 extraction of crude petroleum. For related activity, compare energy supply or manufacturing, and use how to check a UK company before dealing with a counterparty.
Share with negative net assets, 2014 to 2025
Share of accounts with net liabilities (total liabilities larger than total assets) by financial year end, for companies on the live register. Dissolved companies are not included because the register no longer lists their industry, so earlier years show survivors. Negative net assets is a warning sign, not proof of insolvency: see what negative net assets means.
Accounts types filed
| Type of last accounts | Share here | Share UK |
|---|---|---|
| Micro-entity | 27.5% | 32.4% |
| Total exemption full | 23.0% | 23.8% |
| No accounts filed yet | 14.6% | 26.0% |
| Dormant | 13.9% | 10.8% |
| Full (audited) | 10.2% | 1.5% |
| Small | 3.0% | 1.2% |
| Group | 2.7% | 0.5% |
| Unaudited abridged | 2.4% | 2.9% |
The type shows how much a company has to disclose. Micro-entity and abridged accounts contain no profit and loss account on the public record. Read more about accounts categories and micro-entities.
Active companies by year of incorporation
Companies incorporated in each year that are still active today. Younger cohorts are larger partly because older ones have been dissolved.
Most common activity codes
| SIC | Activity | Live companies |
|---|---|---|
| 09100 | Support activities for petroleum and natural gas extraction | 3,294 |
| 06100 | Extraction of crude petroleum | 1,276 |
| 09900 | Support activities for other mining and quarrying | 842 |
| 08990 | Other mining and quarrying n.e.c. | 831 |
| 08110 | Quarrying of ornamental and building stone, limestone, gypsum, chalk and slate | 476 |
| 08910 | Mining of chemical and fertilizer minerals | 448 |
| 07290 | Mining of other non-ferrous metal ores | 385 |
| 08120 | Operation of gravel and sand pits | 317 |
Divisions in this section
| Division | Active companies | Negative net assets | Median cash | Overdue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 09 Mining support service activities | 3,656 | 13.3% | £23k | 3.0% |
| 08 Other mining and quarrying | 1,899 | 13.6% | £55k | 4.3% |
| 06 Extraction of crude petroleum and natural gas | 1,357 | 16.4% | £16k | 10.5% |
| 07 Mining of metal ores | 424 | 17.5% | £4,000 | 6.6% |
| 05 Mining of coal and lignite | 78 | 21.8% | £9,737 | 3.8% |
Methodology
Industry is the first SIC code each company declares on the Companies House register (snapshot 1 October 2026); the dormant placeholder 99999 is excluded. Status, accounts type and due dates come from the register. Financial measures come from our parse of 37 million iXBRL accounts filed since 2008; values above £100bn are treated as extraction errors. Companies filing paper or PDF accounts are not in the balance sheet figures. Full details: methodology.
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