- Expect to see a premium for new mines, finds and camps
- Higher grade smaller reserve growth
- Spin offs from majors
- Private Equity for exploration? - More likely for near mine expansion etc than true grass-roots?
- Expect Industry Consolidation
- Pressures on price
- Price determines resources vs reserves. Average 18 years life for the Major miners.
- Discoveries often copper-gold dependent on copper prices to make economic.
- Who will finance exploration against uncertainty and very long development cycles
- At lower gold prices companies will seek to optimise cash-flows, accelerating resource depletion as described in the Whittle Consulting presentation. New discoveries will be key to the industry's future.
- Charts identifying expenditures by metal, by seniors vs juniors,
- Grassroots exploration has declined as a share through the bull market, focus has been on drilling existing deposits. Total spend has increased however.
- Selected jurisdictions have recently seen increased grass-roots exploration, noticably Canada, US, Mexico. Does this suggest where we should see new discoveries?
Gold projects in Feasibility will product a potential 22m oz pa, however taking out high risk jurisdictions and low grades would reduce this to 9m oz.
Despite increasing spends discovery rates are falling
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