Explorers expect a good year ahead

The seventh edition of the annual Queensland Exploration Council (QEC) Exploration Scorecard has been released this week with an optimistic view on the industry.

The headline from this year’s Scorecard is that commodity prices are improving and optimism has returned to the sector.

In particular, over the next 12 months, 51 per cent of exploration companies said they expect their exploration expenditure to increase.

QEC Chair, Brad John said, “After a couple of tough years, it’s great to see a groundswell of optimism return to the industry.”

“Exploration is the lifeblood of future resource development in Queensland – without exploration success, there is no long-term growth in the industry.

“Looking ahead, the Queensland exploration industry has plenty of reasons to be optimistic. Commodity prices for coal have rallied strongly, while prices for copper, zinc and gold have all achieved solid gains.”

Queensland based explorers have had a good year with their market value up a very healthy 12 per cent. For junior explorers in Queensland expenditure has already increased by 23 per cent in 2017.

“Queensland continues to be a world-class resources region. We are one of the world’s largest seaborne coal and LNG exporters, and we are one of the world’s largest producers of zinc, lead and bauxite alongside significant copper and gold production.

In this year’s Fraser Institute Survey, Queensland was propelled up to fourth in the world for prospectivity,” Mr John said.

In December the QEC releases its Queensland Resources & Exploration Gateway, a one-stop-shop information portal for explorers and investors in the Queensland resources industry.

Download the 2017 QEC Exploration Scorecard