A new survey has confirmed that British Columbia (BC) attracted a record level of exploration expenditure in 2022.
Released at the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) Convention in Toronto, the seventh annual British Columbia mineral and coal exploration survey found that exploration spending across the province hit C$740M, surpassing the previous 10-year high of C$681M seen in 2012, by almost 10%.
Conversely, the number of projects and total metres drilled decreased by 24% and 20% respectively from the previous year as exploration shifted toward earlier stage activities. The survey was conducted by EY, the Government of British Columbia’s Ministry of Energy, Mines & Low Carbon Innovation (EMLI), and the Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia (AME).
The record-setting spending in exploration in British Columbia in 2022 was driven by both a continued interest in gold and a significant uptick in investment into base metals.
While gold exploration spending did not see a similar jump to the one observed between 2020 and 2021, the levels of spending seen in 2021 were maintained last year. Spending decreased by only 2% year-over-year in 2022, indicating significant continued interest in the search for gold.
The other key component of exploration spending in BC last year was the resurgent interest in copper. Copper spending saw an 84% year-over-year increase, rising from C$128M in 2021 to C$235M in 2022, accounting for 32% of overall exploration spend in the province.
The silver sector also continued to garner interest, rising 6% from 2021 levels. Coal and industrial minerals (such as silica and gypsum) saw significant decreases in spending. Coal spending was down 59% year-over-year, while industrials experienced an 87% fall in spending.
The survey found the resurgence of copper as a major part of the exploration spending breakdown aligns closely with market price trends for the metal. Copper prices recovered from the pandemic-induced lows of C$2.17/lb in early 2020 up to 10-year highs of C$4.7/lb in April 2022.
Copper exploration accounted for 32% of all exploration spend in 2022, representing a 13% year-over-year increase in its share of the market. It’s worth noting that exploration for copper is also influenced by BC’s geology, which is prospective for porphyry deposits that are typically dominated by copper mineralization but can also contain significant gold, silver, and molybdenum.
These geological characteristics of BC porphyry deposits mean that the primary commodity reported can change between gold and copper. This can depend on grade and commodity price, which can create variability in what is reported year over year.
77% jump in year-over-year critical minerals exploration
The survey reported that critical metals exploration in BC jumped 77% year-over-year. While much of this increase can be attributed to the copper sector, as detailed previously, the scale at which spending within copper has increased, likely points to factors outside of market pricing. Copper is integral to the green transition as a component of many large-scale electrification efforts, such as electric vehicles and power grids. With a lack of copper projects within the global pipeline, supply is expected to largely lag demand in the long term, creating a favourable outlook for copper price moving forward.
BC produces more than half of Canada’s copper output, amounting to 311Kt of Canada’s total 542Kt produced in 2021 (57%). As previously mentioned, copper in BC occurs predominantly in porphyry deposits, which typically contain a combination of copper and either gold, silver, or molybdenum.
In addition to copper, BC is host to several other critical metals. The only operating mine that produces zinc in the province, Myra Falls, continues to receive exploration funding, while nickel projects include FPX Nickel Corp.’s (OTC: FPOCF) Decar Nickel District and Giga Metals Corp.’s (TSXV: GIGA) Turnagain projects. Both projects also report recoverable cobalt and Turnagain reports recoverable copper.
Outside of traditional base metals, critical metals such as the rare earth elements (REEs) received significant investment in 2022, as seen in Defense Metals Corps.’ Wicheeda project.
The Northwest region continued to serve as the centre of exploration in BC, accounting for 61% of all provincial exploration spend, increasing its market share from 56% in 2021.
A number of mineral explorers have recently announced BC drilling plans and discoveries.
Copper spending saw an 84% year-over-year increase
Tudor Gold
Tudor Gold Corp. (TSXV: TUD) recently released strong results with its updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for its flagship Treaty Creek project located in the Golden Triangle Region of British Columbia.
- Highlights of the updated MRE include:
- Indicated resource of 23.37Moz of gold (Au) equivalent within 641.93Mt at a grade of 1.13g/t AuEQ; comprised: 18.75Moz of gold at 0.91g/t, 112.44Moz of silver (Ag) at 5.45g/t, and 2.18Blbs of copper (Cu) at 0.15%.
- Inferred Mineral Resource of 7.35Moz AuEQ within 233.90Mt at a grade of 0.98g/t AuEQ; comprised: 5.54Moz Au at 0.74 g/t, 45.08Moz Ag at 5.99g/t, and 848.00Mlbs of Cu at 0.16%.
- CS-600 Domain is comprised an intrusive hosted gold-copper porphyry system and hosts an Indicated Mineral Resource of 9.86Moz of AuEQ within 278.02Mt at a grade of 1.10g/t AuEQ; comprised: 6.22Moz Au at 0.70g/t; and 1.98Blbs of Cu at 0.32%.
- The Goldstorm Deposit remains open to the south, north, northeast, and at depth.
Westhaven Gold
Westhaven Gold Corp. (TSXV: WHN) recently unveiled its plans for 2023 with an initial drilling focus on the 17,623ha Shovelnose Gold Property. Shovelnose is located within the prospective Spences Bridge Gold Belt (SBGB), which borders the Coquihalla Highway 30km south of Merritt, British Columbia.
“2022 was a milestone year for Westhaven. We completed a maiden resource at the South Zone, welcomed Franco-Nevada as a shareholder and drilled our highest-grade gold-silver intercept to date,” president and CEO, Gareth Thomas, said.
“Finding additional mineralized zones is the main objective for the company in 2023 as the vast majority of the 17,623ha Shovelnose Gold Property has had limited drilling.
“Our technical team has generated numerous targets outside of the Zone One Trend based on extensive data collected since the initial discovery with the belief this could lead to new discoveries on the property. These will be drill tested throughout the 2023 season commencing shortly.
“Over the course of the last decade, Westhaven has assembled the preeminent land position on the SBGB and we look forward to working all four of these properties in 2023.”
Ascot Resources
Ascot Resources (TSX: AOT) is focusing on the re-start of the processing plant at the historic Premier Gold Project (PGP), a mine once named North America’s largest gold mine. The site is located just 25km from the town of Stewart, on Nisga’a Nation Treaty Lands, in British Columbia’s prolific Golden Triangle.
The company recently announced the last remaining assay results from its 2022 exploration drill programme at the PGP.
The results were from surface drilling for in-fill and exploration purposes at the Day Zone and the Big Missouri deposit, approximately 6km north of the past-producing Premier Mill.
“Having recently closed our financing for approximately C$200M to complete construction of the Premier Gold Project, exploration results such as these are much more meaningful as they continue to reveal high gold grades and new zones of mineralization, which could be exploited in the early years of the mine life,” president and CEO, Derek White, said.
“The headline intercept of 199gpt is the highest-grade interval Ascot has drilled at the Day Zone since its initial discovery in 2020, and aligned well with the predicted orientation of mineralization. We continue to be impressed with the resource expansion potential and are very excited about the exploration options for 2023 and enhancing the continuity and expansion of resources to the west of Big Missouri.”
With aggressive activities like these, BC’s immediate exploration future looks very bright.
