Yukon mineral exploration activity dipped slightly in 2019. Exploration expenditures were approximately $105 million, compared to $120 million in 2018. Development expenditures are estimated at $240 million, primarily for the development of Victoria Gold Corp.’s Eagle mine ($183M), and, to a lesser extent the advancement of Newmont Goldcorp.’s Coffee gold project and the reopening of the Minto gold-copper-silver mine by Pembridge Resources. Production dollars are attributable to operations at Victoria Gold’s new Eagle mine and the newly reopened Minto mine of Pembridge Resources plc.
The number of active exploration projects dropped significantly from 155 projects in 2018 to 80 projects in 2019. To some degree, this reflects the continuing tight equity markets. Thirty-six of the 80 projects spent more than $1M, while 44 projects spent less than $500,000. The majority of smaller projects received Yukon Mineral Exploration Program (YMEP) grant funding. In terms of all Yukon projects, gold continues to be the most sought-after commodity, with 68% of the projects targeting it. The remainder of projects focused on exploring for lead-zinc, copper, silver, or nickel-PGEs, and to a lesser extent, tin, cobalt or vanadium.
Claim staking in 2019 was down significantly over the previous year to 2212 claims. The number of claims in good standing is 173,161, down from an all-time high of 252,902 in 2012. Drilling numbers were down slightly. Total drilling in 2019 was 221,596 m, compared to 246,282 m in 2018.
