According to the latest data released by SPG, global metal mineral exploration in 2017 invested 7.95 billion U.S. dollars, up 14% over the same period of last year. This data confirms the mineral exploration market to determine the recovery from the downward shift. From 1991 to 2017, the global metal mineral exploration investment has undergone two major cyclical fluctuations. The first cyclical fluctuation was roughly from 1991 to 2002. After the metal mineral exploration in the world entered into the growth stage after 1991, it reached a peak of 4.568 billion U.S. dollars in 1997, an average annual increase of 13.3%. Affected by the Asian financial crisis in 1997, the mineral The investment in exploration dropped through a five-year period of decline, with an average annual drop of 16.6%. It dropped to 2.05 billion U.S. dollars in 2002, down 60.5% from the 1997 peak. The second cyclical fluctuation was roughly from 2003 to the present. Since 2002, the investment in mineral exploration has been rapidly increasing, reaching a peak value of 20.526 billion U.S. dollars with an average annual increase of 30.4%. In the meantime, due to the international financial crisis triggered by the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis, The investment in mineral exploration dropped sharply by 36.1% in 2009, but then quickly rebounded to maintain the general trend of sustained growth. Global mineral exploration investment dropped sharply after 2012, reaching an average annual decline of 23.8% in 2016. In 2017, the drop in the global mineral exploration investment means that the new upswing cycle of mineral exploration is still at low trough and still needs further observation.
Global mineral exploration investment in 2017 with the metal prices rose moderate rebound. Since the beginning of 2016, the S & P Global Metal Price Index has been upside down from a downward spiral. In particular, the price index continued to rise in the second half of 2016 and entered the upward range after experiencing a mild correction in the first half of 2017. Copper prices rose from US $ 4,600 / tonne in October 2016 to US $ 6,600 / tonne in October 2017, up 43.4% YoY; gold prices rose at the end of 2015, fluctuated steadily in 2017 and the average price was up 4% from 2015 %; Zinc metal prices rose strongly since early 2016, after a brief correction in 2017 to resume the momentum of soaring, as early as the beginning of October the price reached 3297.5 US dollars / ton, the highest in nearly 10 years, an increase of 113.3% over the beginning of 2016. As metal prices rose strongly and market conditions improved, market investors rethought mining as an investment option and investment levels rebounded. In particular, primary exploration companies increased by 23% year on year. Large-scale production company surveyed inputs up 17%, still the main investment in mineral exploration.
The number of mineral exploration companies that have invested in the project continues to decrease. Despite the improving exploration environment, the downward pressure on mining has caused some companies to stop investing in mineral exploration. The number of companies conducting mineral exploration activities decreased from 1,580 in 2016 to 1,535 in 2017, a slight decrease of 3%. Compared with the peak in 2012, the number is reduced by 40%. Considering some of the companies that did not invest in exploration in 2016 resumed their exploration activities this year, the number of prospecting companies expected to increase by 2018 will increase.
Gold exploration remains a hot mineral prospecting mine. According to statistics, from 2001 to 2015, the average investment in gold exploration accounts for 44.6% of the total global metal mineral exploration investment. In 2016, the global gold exploration investment has reached 3.297 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 47.9% of the total; in 2017, USD, accounting for 50.9% of the total, still the largest mineral input for mineral exploration. Copper is the second largest hot metal mine in the world after the gold. In 2016, the global copper mine exploration invested 1.501 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 21.9% of the total investment in metal mineral exploration. In 2017, the exploration of copper deposits invested 1.649 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 20.7%. In 2017, a total investment of 489 million U.S. dollars was spent on zinc ore exploration, accounting for 6.2% of the total. Uranium exploration was valued at 256 million U.S. dollars, accounting for 3.2% of the total. Uranium exploration was valued at 245 million U.S. dollars, or 3.1% of the total.
Latin America Leads Global Mining Exploration. The ore-forming conditions in Latin America are superior and the politics is relatively stable, attracting more investment in mineral exploration. In 2017, the mineral exploration in Latin America invested 2.348 billion U.S. dollars, up 20% over the same period of the previous year, accounting for 30.0% of the global mineral exploration investment; the mineral exploration in Canada invested 1.101 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 13.8%; the African mineral exploration invested 1.088 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 13.7% Australian mineral exploration investment 1.078 billion US dollars, accounting for 13.6%.
Grassroots survey activities continued to slump. In 2017, mining exploration accounted for 37%, feasibility study investment accounted for 36% and grassroots exploration investment 27%. Investment in mining exploration more than feasibility studies and grassroots investment, for the first time in nearly 10 years, this situation. Since 2013, the investment in primary exploration has dropped significantly. In the past 18 months, the recovery of mineral exploration market has only slowed down the proportion of investment in grassroots exploration. This reflects the fact that most producers focus exploration exploration on mining exploration in order to avoid risks.
