Thirty-Four Thousand People in One VoivodeshipNarrow moat

KGHM Polska Miedź (KGH) — moat facet

Generational expertise in deep mining, and a fixed cost that cannot be flexed when metals turn.

KGHM is not simply a large employer in Lower Silesia. For practical purposes it is the economy of Lower Silesia's copper belt.

Average group employment, H1 2026KGHM Polska Miedz S.A. — 55%Polish subsidiaries — 37%KGHM INTERNATIONAL — 9%Other international — 0%Within the parent, 12 645 work in the mines and 3 607 in the metallurgical plants
A workforce with generational experience of deep mining, and a fixed cost that no competitor could assemble or KGHM easily reduce.

Average group employment in the first half of 2026 was 34 543: 18 870 at the parent, 12 648 across the Polish subsidiaries, 3 018 at KGHM INTERNATIONAL and seven elsewhere1. Within the parent, 12 645 people work in the mines and 3 607 in the metallurgical plants2.

The subsidiary list explains what that concentration actually means. Alongside the mining-machinery builder KGHM ZANAM and the mining-construction firm PeBeKa sit a research centre, a health-care group and a football club3. These are the institutions of a company town written at the scale of a region.

For an owner this cuts in a specific way. It is the deepest possible source of operational capability — a workforce with generational experience of deep mining is not something a competitor could assemble — and it is a fixed cost that cannot be flexed. The wage bill has risen 15% in two years on that flat headcount4.

It also confers political weight. A company employing 34 543 people is consulted, protected, and taxed.

The measure is revenue per employee, and more usefully its direction: the group turned 36 366 million złoty of revenue5 on that workforce in 2025, and the first half of 2026 improved it sharply — on prices rather than productivity.

Moat trajectory: Narrowing

Headcount fell 0,4% while employee benefits rose to 6 303 million złoty. The capability is intact and it costs more every year.

The number that tests this moat
Reported
Average group employment
34,543, of whom 18 870 at the parent

12 645 people work in the mines and 3 607 in the metallurgical plants, and headcount fell 0,4% year on year. A workforce with generational experience of deep mining cannot be assembled by a competitor and cannot be flexed by KGHM. Employee benefits per tonne of copper is the ratio to watch.

Source: KGHM Group Management Board's report for H1 2026 ↗
⚠ Threats to the moat
⚠ THREAT 01
A Workforce That Cannot Be Reduced Quickly
The wage bill rose 15% in two years on flat headcount, and part of the increase is contractual.
References
  1. ReportedAverage group employment in the first half of 2026 was 34 543: 18 870 at the parent, 12 648 across the Polish subsidiaries, 3 018 at KGHM INTERNATIONAL and seven elsewhere.
    KGHM Polska Miedz S.A. Group - Management Board's report on activities in the first half of 2026, production, unit costs and employment (electrolytic copper of 291,5 thousand tonnes of which 183,6 thousand from own concentrate, metallic silver of 696,7 tonnes, the pre-precious-metals-credit unit cost of 52 201 złoty a tonne against a total unit cost of 17,415, C1 of 2,44 USD/lb, average group employment of 34 543 including 18 870 at the parent, and payable copper from the international assets of 59,5 thousand tonnes of which Sierra Gorda 40,2 and Robinson 17,7) — H1 2026 · publ. August 2026 · source ↗
  2. ReportedWithin the parent, 12 645 people work in the mines and 3 607 in the metallurgical plants.
    KGHM Polska Miedz S.A. Group - Management Board's report on activities in the first half of 2026, production, unit costs and employment (electrolytic copper of 291,5 thousand tonnes of which 183,6 thousand from own concentrate, metallic silver of 696,7 tonnes, the pre-precious-metals-credit unit cost of 52 201 złoty a tonne against a total unit cost of 17,415, C1 of 2,44 USD/lb, average group employment of 34 543 including 18 870 at the parent, and payable copper from the international assets of 59,5 thousand tonnes of which Sierra Gorda 40,2 and Robinson 17,7) — H1 2026 · publ. August 2026 · source ↗
  3. ReportedAlongside the mining-machinery builder KGHM ZANAM and the mining-construction firm PeBeKa sit a research centre, a health-care group and a football club.
    KGHM Polska Miedz S.A. Group condensed consolidated financial statements for the first half of 2026 (the note stating that revenues from no single contractor exceeded 10% of group sales, the geographical breakdown by end-customer location totalling 21 927m złoty with Poland at 4 845m and Germany at 2 815m, parent revenue of 14 430m from copper and 5 843m from silver, the amending act on the minerals extraction tax in force from 1 January 2026, the group structure and equity accounting of Sierra Gorda, and derivative counterparty concentration) — H1 2026 · publ. August 2026 · source ↗
  4. ReportedThe wage bill has risen 15% in two years on that flat headcount.
    KGHM Polska Miedz S.A. Group condensed consolidated financial statements for the first half of 2026 (the note stating that revenues from no single contractor exceeded 10% of group sales, the geographical breakdown by end-customer location totalling 21 927m złoty with Poland at 4 845m and Germany at 2 815m, parent revenue of 14 430m from copper and 5 843m from silver, the amending act on the minerals extraction tax in force from 1 January 2026, the group structure and equity accounting of Sierra Gorda, and derivative counterparty concentration) — H1 2026 · publ. August 2026 · source ↗
  5. ReportedThe measure is revenue per employee, and more usefully its direction: the group turned 36 366 million złoty of revenue on that workforce in 2025, and the first half of 2026 improved it sharply — on prices rather than productivity.
    KGHM Polska Miedz S.A. Group - Management Board's report on activities in the first half of 2026, financial results (revenue of 24 711m złoty up 40,8%, profit for the period of 5 579m against 580m, adjusted EBITDA of 9 198m up 89,1%, capital expenditure of 1 663m, net debt down 13,5% to 4 691m, equity of 39 814m, available financing of 16 978m, and the 1 979m złoty increase in the minerals extraction tax on higher copper and silver prices) — H1 2026 · publ. August 2026 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 24, 2026