Despite tough market conditions, the Yukon saw another year of significant exploration results and new discoveries. At the time of writing, Yukon Geological Survey (YGS) estimated exploration expenditures in the territory to be $147M for the year, based on company press releases, SEDAR (System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval Overview) postings and conversations with industry clients. This estimate is up 18% from $124M in 2022 (Fig. 1). Development expenditures for 2023 are estimated to be $95M (Fig. 1) and mineral production is estimated to be $495M (approximately 87% attributed to gold production, 10% to silver production and 3% to copper production), down from a total of $543M in 2022; Fig. 2).1 It was a challenging year for production due to the closure of the Minto mine and the two-week closure of Victoria Gold’s Eagle Gold mine due to wildfires in the Mayo region; however, strong precious and base-metal prices throughout the year, increased production at Eagle Gold mine, and the re-opening of the Keno Hill mine suggests that 2023 production revenue will remain strong.
There were 82 active exploration projects in the territory in 2023 (Fig. 3, Appendix 1), which was similar to 2022; however, the number of active companies and individual prospectors continues to
decline. The notable increase in exploration expenditures compared with 2022 can be attributed to the progression of several exploration projects into more advanced stages. In total, 31 companies
spent more than $500K on exploration and development; 19 of those spent more than $1M. Additionally, several companies were able to raise extra funding mid-season, which extended their initial proposed exploration programs.
The primary commodity in terms of total exploration expenditures in the territory continues to be gold, representing 55% of spending ($80.5M), followed by zinc-lead (25%, $37.7M), silver (9%, $13.4M), copper (9%, $13.2M), tungsten (1%, $1.0M) and nickel-PGE (1%, $900K; Fig. 4). Gold exploration has dominated expenditures since the late 1980s, often representing upward of 80% of total expenditures; however, in recent years there has been a progressive shift to a more equal split between precious metal and critical mineral exploration expenditures.
As of November 1, 2023, 5119 quartz claims had been staked in 2023 (Fig. 5). Most of the new claims were in the Mayo Mining District (60%), followed by the Whitehorse (25%) and Dawson (15%) mining districts; no new claims were staked in the Watson Lake Mining District (Fig. 6). A total of 162 564 claims remain in good standing, down from 164 924 in 2022.
