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PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Latin America was proving a more attractive destination for exploration investors, overtaking Australia and Canada in terms of dollars invested.
SNL Metals & Mining told the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (Amec) Convention, in Perth, on Tuesday that over a quarter of current exploration spend was being invested in the Latin American region. SNL commercial director Stuart Ferguson said that a significant drawing card in the region was the value for money offered in the South American countries.
“The exploration dollar spent there will get you a lot more than in the recognised regions of Canada and Australia,” Ferguson said.
Over the past two years, only 19% of the world’s reported assay results originated from Australia, while no new projects have been earmarked for development in the last two years, Ferguson said.
Over the six months to May 21, projects worth a combined A$25.6-billion were completed, the Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics (BREE) previously reported.
As at April, there were 48 projects at the committed stage with a combined value of A$229-billion compared with 63 projects with a combined value of A$240-billion six months earlier.
Echoing Ferguson’s data, BREE’s forward projections indicate that investment in the resources and energy sectors was likely to exhibit some weakness in the short term. However, the Australian agency was optimistic that there remained an opportunity to sustain higher levels of investment should projects at earlier stages of development proceed through the pipeline.