Gold Exploration Plunged to Hit New Record Low in 2019

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The analysis of trends during the initial six-month period of 2019 indicates that gold exploration activities hit the lowest level since the beginning of the current year. There has been a significant decline in the number of drilled projects.

According to data, there exists a marked shift towards exploration of advanced projects. The companies are found to be more interested in extending the resource base of existing mines and advanced projects. Also, they are found reluctant or too conservative in investing in early-stage drilling activities. This is despite the recent surge in gold prices and overall optimism surrounding the gold mining sector.

There has been a notable decline in the quality of drill results. The mid and high-grade gold intersections have dropped sharply to 36% of the total count in June this year. This compares with 45% in the prior month. The exploration results were declared for 110 projects during June ’19, which is the lowest since the beginning of 2019. Australia led the table with a total of 37 drilled projects, followed by Canada and South America with 33 and 17 respectively.

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59 out of the 110 projects drilled correspond to early and advanced exploration projects. This share of 54% is a notable decline from the share of 69% in March this year, when 87 out of the 125 projects had accounted for early and advanced drilling projects.

Meantime, the study foresees chances of further adjustments in gold exploration budgets in the second half of 2019, in line with improved market conditions, which in turn could lead to taking up of more long-term exploration risks by miners and developers.