That’s a C$4.3 billion increase over 2021. That increase in value over 2021 was largely due to high metallurgical coal prices, said Gordon Clarke of the BC Geological Survey’s development office. Steelmaking coal prices hit a high of $670 per tonne last year, and remains relatively high at close to $300 per tonne.
B.C. has seven operating metallurgical coal mines.
Eby said there was an 84% increase in copper exploration in 2022, much of that concentrated in northwest B.C. in the so-called Golden Triangle.
Copper is among the critical minerals identified in Canada’s new federal Critical Minerals Strategy as key to both the digital economy and the energy transition, and it’s one mineral B.C. has in relative abundance. B.C. is Canada’s biggest copper producer.
Jonathan Price, new CEO for Teck Resources (TSX:TECK.B), which operates the Highland Valley Copper mine, said the estimated global demand for copper will grow by…
