Exploration Budgets Continue to Retreat (from SNL Metals &...

Exploration Budgets Continue to Retreat (from SNL Metals & Mining - World Exploration Trends 2015)

..."Mining companies responded to these poor market conditions with a sharp reduction in their exploration activity. The result was a 26% decline in worldwide nonferrous metals exploration budgets in 2014, compared with the previous year.

In the 25th edition of its Corporate Exploration Strategies (CES) report, SNL Metals & Mining calculated that the mining industry’s total budget for nonferrous metals exploration was US$11.4 billion in 2014. This contrasts with the US$15.2 billion allocated in 2013 and the record US$21.5 billion budgeted in 2012.

The steep plunge in exploration budgets was due to a combination of investor wariness of the junior sector, which made it difficult for most companies to raise funds, and a strong pullback by producing companies on capital and exploration spending to improve their margins".