Mining exploration. CREDIT: Adobe Stock.
Global nonferrous exploration spending declined for the second straight year due to financing challenges for junior miners, S&P Global said.
Global spending dropped 3% to $12.5 billion, S&P’s Corporate Exploration Strategies 2024 report, released Friday, shows. The decline raises concerns over the industry’s capacity to discover new deposits when demand for battery and critical metals is rising.
Less grassroots exploration could lead to serious problems, S&P project lead Eillen Grace Dela Cruz warned.
“Junior companies offset the rise in prices by scaling back their expenditures in early-stage, higher-risk projects,” she said in the report. “With the junior sector continuing to struggle to access funds, causing its allocations to decrease again.”
She suggests that as companies retreat to lower-risk investments, the potential for breakthrough…
