S&P Global Market Intelligence’s survey of 3,300 public and private companies estimates that global spending for nonferrous minerals exploration increased by 20% in 2018 as compared to 2017, with total spending coming in at $10.1 billion, up from $8.5 billion in 2017.
S&P Global observed that nonferrous exploration spending peaked in 2012 at more than $21 billion and then suffered a continuous downward slump to about $7.5 billion in 2016. Improving market conditions and stronger metals prices since mid-2016 have encouraged many investors to reconsider the mining sector as an investment option. The result has been an uptick in the number and size of completed financings, especially among junior explorers, and exploration activity remains well above the levels seen prior to the start of the recovery in 2016.
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