Exploration budgets in Australia continue to fall, according to a new report from S&P Global Market Intelligence.
In its Corporate Exploration Strategies 2016 report, S&P stated that Australian mining companies’ exploration budgets dropped to a decade-low $US897.4 million ($1.205 billion), about 16 per cent below the 2015 mark.
The 2016 figure is also 64 per cent lower than the decade peak of $US2.5 billion recorded in 2012.
Globally, exploration budgets also declined in every region covered by S&P for the third straight year. The average year-on-year decline during this span has been 21 per cent.
Australia has the second highest exploration budget of any country in the report, behind only Canada.
According to S&P, the report does not take bulk commodities like iron ore and bauxite into account, and also excludes diversified companies like Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton.
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