In recent years, depressed commodity prices have plagued Canada’s mining industry. One recent report showed that spending on exploration — the lifeblood of the industry — dropped for the fourth consecutive year and is at its lowest point since 2005.
Amid conditions like these, when prices are low and profits are uncertain, onerous regulatory costs and uncompetitive policies can discourage investment in exploration, thereby diminishing the chances that a viable deposit will be found and eventually developed into a producing mine.
While Canada performs well as a whole in offering an attractive policy environment for mining exploration, a number of Canadian provinces and territories continue to fall behind. And policy uncertainty appears to be the main culprit.
