This Bachelors thesis implements the Firm Resources and Capabilities View of the Firm (Barney 1991) through the VRIO framework (Value, Rarity, Inimitability and Organization) to qualitatively assess the resources and capabilities - and thus the determinants of competitive advantage - of mining firms on three generic tiers of the industry: Transnational, Medium-sized and Minnow firms. The study identified the key determinants of competitive advantage in the mining industry to be: acess to financial capital, human resources and capabilities and organisational capabilities. The last is inclusive of managing reputation, asset and technology risk. The study found that both the top 'transnational' tier and the 'minnows' tiers of firms generally maintained a noticable edge in competitive advantage when compared to the medium tier of firms. Transnational firms have competitive advantage over other firms due to their financial, human resources and organisational capabilities while 'minnows' leverage entrepreneurial human resources as well as agility.