Canada keeps no. 2 spot for 2010 exploration

The following was released by the Metals Economics Group (MEG), based on its Corporate Exploration Strategies study which examines global exploration budgets. For more information visit: www.metalseconomics.com.

Canada maintained the regional no. 2 spot for planned exploration spending in 2010, attracting 19% of worldwide nonferrous exploration allocations. According to Metals Economics Group’s Corporate Exploration Strategies (CES), Canada has held second place for nine years since overtaking Australia in 2002. 

The MEG’s study covers expenditures for precious and base metals, diamonds, uranium, and some industrial minerals; it specifically excludes iron ore, aluminum, coal, and oil and gas.

Four provinces – Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia – accounted for more than three quarters of the US$2.2 billion in planned Canadian nonferrous exploration spending in 2010.

Of the 710 companies that planned to explore in Canada in 2010, 90% were based in Canada, together contributing 79% of the planned Canadian nonferrous exploration total.

Worldwide, Canadian-based companies accounted for more than half of the 2,200-plus active explorers covered by the 2010 edition of CES, and together accounted for 41% of the 2010 global exploration budget total.

The 2,200-plus companies included in the study (each with a budget of at least US$100,000) together budgeted US$11.5 billion for nonferrous exploration in 2010, which MEG estimates covers about 95% of worldwide commercially oriented nonferrous exploration budgets. Including budgets not covered by the study, MEG estimates the total worldwide budget for nonferrous exploration reached US$12.1 billion.

Most companies increased their budgets in response to rising prices and more stable market conditions, resulting in a 44% rise in the estimated worldwide exploration total for 2010 and reinstating almost two-thirds of the industry’s US$6 billion in cuts to exploration in 2009.