#Covid19 makes Outlook for #Exploration and, by default, Discoveries bleak

Falling Australian Exploration Spending, Means Outlook bleak for Discoveries

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Even before the coronavirus started to impact the mining sector, S&P Global Market Intelligence found that global exploration budgets were down 3% to US$9.8 billion in 2019.

"The pandemic is hitting while the industry is trying to recover," S&P principal analyst, exploration Kevin Murphy said last week.

The firm is "unfortunately" pessimistic on the outlook for exploration.

S&P's exploration price index dropped in March after being "relatively stable".

"March has changed everything," Murphy said.

Opaxe, which tracks all ASX and TSX drilling announcements, reported only 19 announcements last week and 19 again this week.

"We are at the lowest fortnightly total since 2015, apart from the annual Christmas breaks," it said.

There have been daily announcements about exploration being suspended or curtailed, either due to cost-cutting or travel restrictions.

As has been the trend in recent years, it looks like the larger companies will be doing most of the drilling in Australia for at least the next few months, but it is likely exploration budgets will be the easiest place to trim costs for FY21.

See the whole article here: https://www.mining-journal.com/covid-19/news/1384343/outlook-bleak-for-exploration-and-discovery