This study examines the importance of mines and mining industries in economic literature and identifies the challenges facing this sector in countries with high capacity. A questionnaire was prepared among 10 experts in distribution economics, and the components were compared pairwise using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) with EXPERT CHOICE software. The results show that weak governance, with a coefficient of 0.821, is the most significant challenge, while unproductive mining capacities, with a coefficient of 0.030, ranks last. Among sub-factors, the lack of synergy and conflict of institutional interests in the governance structure of the mining sector, with a coefficient of 0.581, ranks first, and the challenge of low productivity and unproductiveness of mining capacities, with a coefficient of 0.030, ranks lowest. Based on this ranking, the most important solutions include: reforming and creating institutional transparency and separation of duties in the governance structure, strengthening and integrating relevant agencies in the mining sector, facilitating and supporting the development of technologies related to the production and processing of raw materials with priority given to semi-processed materials required by domestic mining industries, and eliminating import duties on mineral raw materials needed by domestic industries. These measures should be placed on the agenda of economic policymakers for the development of mines and mining industries.