Total deal value marked a decrease of 14.6% over November and a rise of 65.5% when compared with the past 12-month average of $4.77 billion.

In terms of number of deals, the sector saw a drop of 22.9% over the past 12-month average with 84 deals against the average of 109 deals.

The top five deals accounted for 82.4% of the overall value during December, with the combined value of the top five at $6.5 billion, compared with the overall value for the month.

The top five industry deals tracked by GlobalData were Cleveland-Cliffs' $3 billion acquisition of AK Steel Holding, the $1.12 billion acquisition of PIM Cupric by Jiangxi Copper (Hong Kong) Investment, Gold Mountains International Mining's $1.03 billion acquisition of Continental Gold, the $800 million acquisition of Kalgoorlie Lake View by Northern Star Resources and Northern Star Resources' acquisition of Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines for $550.55 million.

However, North American dealmaking was losing steam in January to date, with the latest reading of the Oreninc Index as at January 27, a barometer of daily deal flow in resource equities, showed total fund raises announced more than halved to $56.2 million, a two-week low.

This included one brokered financing for $8 million, a three-week low, and two bought-deal financings for $8.7 million, a one-week high. The average offer size more than halved to $1.6 million, a two-week low, while the number of financings increased to 35.

International law firm Dorsey & Whitney deal expert Nora Pincus recently said US-focused M&A activity was set to intensify in 2020 as miners sought to capture value for shareholders.