Global investor confidence in mining is slowly returning, but opinion is divided about whether mines will be able to maintain and grow production without relinquishing their cost discipline of the past few years, states the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC).

There has been some welcome relief for the minerals exploration and mining industry from the worldwide economic downturn that lasted nearly five years, PDAC president Glenn Mullan tells Mining Weekly, adding that “investor confidence will take time to return to the sector, yet we can see that the recovery has started”.

With one of the key concerns currently being depleting reserves, “[we] expect more focus on exploration and inter-company collaboration to develop assets”, he claims.

“A key trend in the minerals industry is a jump in the exploration for and mining of certain materials, such as lithium, cobalt and rare-earth minerals, owing to the global shift towards clean technology and a low carbon economy . . . ”

This trend is expected to benefit West African mining. Australian mining company IronRidge Resources has found high-grade and broad lithium pegmatite prospects at the Cape Coast lithium project, in Ghana. At London-based lithium explorer and developer Kodal Minerals’ Bougouni lithium project at the Ngoualana prospect, in Mali, drill holes have continued to present wide high-grade intersections. The holes have returned lithium mineralisation of 1.85% lithium oxide (Li2O) at 28 m, 1.64% Li2O from 22 m, 1.64% Li2O from 18 m, and 1.76% Li2O from 16 m.

Kodal Minerals CEO Bernard Aylward stated in a press release in February that “the extension drilling continues to outline parallel and splay structures that also contain mineralised pegmatite bodies and it is exciting to see our exploration model advancing well as we intersect additional pegmatite bodies close to our existing prospects”. Possible pegmatite extensions have been discovered to the east and west of the Ngoualana prospect.

“As such, PDAC advocates for government investment in the research and development of new technologies,” elaborates Mullan. “These investments will support innovation in the minerals industry, hence, junior exploration companies can increase exploration, he argues.

He further claims that there is a demand for education and skills development in the mining industry globally. The Canadian Mining Industry Human Resources Council’s report, Canadian Mining Market Outlook 2017, indicates that 47% of new appointments are replacements for retirees, with Mullan arguing that “to maintain the health of the industry, it is vital that talent is attracted and retained . . .”

Globally, exploration expenditure is also increasing. “Our data shows that global financing for mineral exploration increased significantly – by 68% in 2016 and 85% in 2017 – while expenditure on exploration is estimated to have increased by 12% in 2017, compared with expenditure in 2016,” Mullan claims.

While such expenditure is below the amount spent on exploration in 2011 and 2012, the upward trend is a positive sign for the industry, particularly in West Africa, where new mineral prospects are being discovered by Canadian gold miner Roxgold, Canadian miners Nexus Gold and Ashanti Gold Corp, Australian lithium explorer and developer Kodal Minerals and Australian miner IronRidge Resources, Mullan concludes.