As some 30,000 people gather in Toronto this week for the mining industry's "superbowl," those looking for critical minerals say market conditions are limiting their work and ultimately slowing down the pace of opening new mines.For almost a century now, players from across the mining industry — big or small, Canadian or international — have been gathering in Toronto annually to talk about capital, technical innovations, and market trends.
These companies make up most of the mining project operators in Canada. They typically have no operating revenues and rely on equity financing to do their higher-risk, early stage exploration work.Natural Resources Canada is projecting some $4 billion will be spent on mining exploration and deposit appraisal in Canada in 2024.
Junior mining companies depend on strong commodity prices to convince investors to put their money in the ground.The price of nickel — a mineral used to produce stainless steel, alloys, and the batteries used in electric vehicles — jumped in the early days of the war in Ukraine to historic highs, but has now collapsed in response to increased supply from Indonesia, creating market uncertainty for years to come.
He says a decade ago there was a lot more active investment in junior projects than there is today. This means more people physically sitting in chairs, willing to hear a mining explorer's sales pitch.