Exploration Review

This summary of international mineral exploration activities for the year 2009 draws upon information from industry sources, published literature and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) specialists. The summary provides data on industry exploration budgets by region and mineral commodity, identifies significant mineral discoveries and areas of mineral exploration, discusses government programs affecting the mineral exploration industry and presents analyses of exploration activities by the mineral industry based upon these data. Two types of information are reported and analyzed in this annual review of international exploration for the year 2009: 1) budgetary statistics expressed in U.S. nominal dollars provided by Metals Economics Group (MEG) of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and 2) information on regional and site-specific exploration activities that took place in 2009 and were compiled by the USGS. The MEG information summarizes planned company budgets for worldwide exploration activities in 2009, primarily for base metals (copper, lead, nickel and zinc), diamond and precious metals (gold, platinum-group metals and silver). Information on uranium exploration was included in the MEG overview for the first time in 2007, although this information was not included in the USGS analysis prior to 2008. The MEG survey methodology was changed in 1999 to include companies with exploration budgets greater than $100,000, as well as those companies included in prior studies whose anticipated budgets were above $2.9 million. MEG estimates that its post-1999 surveys cover at least 90 percent of world nonferrous nonfuel mineral exploration budgets. The 2009 survey is reported by MEG to cover an estimated 95 percent. Companies who chose not to participate in the MEG study, private companies that do not publish data and government-funded exploration activities make up the majority of the remaining 5 percent. MEG included 86 more companies in its 2009 survey than it did in 2008.