Time to dig deep? Big miners face a big problem

Most industrial commodities are oversupplied, with the feared slowdown in China only deepening the miners' woes

How severe is the crisis in the world of over-borrowed big miners? Here's an illustration. Anglo-American, a company founded in 1917, employing 148,000 people around the world and generating sales last year of almost 20bn, now has a stock market value of 8.7bn.

By contrast, Next, the clothing chain with a 4bn turnover, is worth 11bn. Even Whitbread, pumping out Costa Coffees rather than digging for diamonds, coal and iron ore, is within a whisker of Anglo's market value.