Speaking at the recent China Mining Conference in Beijing, Stephen Lucas, assistant deputy minister of Natural Resources Canada, said the country’s total exploration budget this year could reach an unprecedented $2.5 billion.
The 2007 total would be the highest level of spending ever recorded in Canadian exploration history. Last year, $1.7 billion was spent on exploration across the country.
Lucas also pointed out that Canadian mineral and metal production reached $54.7 billion in 2006. Of that total, metals accounted for $21.2 billion, non-metallic minerals $10.2 billion, coal $2.2 billion and oilsands $21.1 billion.
Meanwhile, the Toronto Stock Exchange Group has become the leading exchange group for financing the mining industry, David Kaiser, the Toronto Stock Exchange’s senior manager of global resources, told delegates at the conference.
The Toronto Stock Exchange and the TSX Venture Exchange added 64 new mining listings in the first half of this year, he added.
In terms of China, 134 mineral properties in China are operated by mining companies listed on the TSX or the TSX Venture Exchange, Kaiser said.
Lucas noted that as of January, 48% of the mineral projects held by TSX main and Venture board-listed companies were outside of North America.
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