VANCOUVER - Spending on mineral exploration in British Columbia reached a record $416 million in 2007. And with exploration comes development: 23 proposals were made last year for 13 metal mines, seven coal mines and three industrial minerals mines.
"Investment in exploration spending is up 57 per cent over that of 2006 and over 1,300 per cent from when we took office in 2001," said minister of state for mining Kevin Krueger. "With 472 exploration stage projects across the province, British Columbia is steadily gaining a greater share of Canada's exploration activity, providing a tremendous boost to local economies."
Here are a few highlights from the news release available at www.gov.BC.ca/empr:
*The $416 million spent in 2007 represents an increase of 57% over 2006.
*Total exploration drilling reached 1.25 million metres, up 51% over 2006.
*Of the 472 projects, 102 had budgets of more than $1 million.
*There are more than 20 mineral projects under environmental review.
The numbers were compiled by the SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY's Department of Earth Sciences (www.SFU.ca/earth-sciences).
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