Canadian mining CEOs' bonuses rebound

A more bullish commodities market over the past year has donerock crusher operational costs more than spike the price of copper. It's also pumped up payouts for executives in the mining industry. Canadian mining CEOs saw their cash bonus payouts rise from 61 per cent of salary in 2009 to 88 per cent in 2010, according to a survey by Coopers Consulting Ltd. and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

“We are now seeing some dramatic swings back in bonus compensation that demonstrate a new confidence in commodity pricing and profitability," said PwC senior partner Len Boggio. The average annual base pay of Canadian mining CEOs at $480,000 shows little change from 2009, whereas average bonus payouts are over 1.75 times larger at $540,000. The total cash package on average, including annual base salary plus bonus, was $840,000, which compares with $670,000 a year earlier, with the highest bonus for a Canadian mining CEO reaching this year 434 per cent of base pay.