Investment in mining and exploration in B.C. was up 35% in 2011 compared with 2010, according to the Ministry of Energy and Mines.
The province estimates the mining sector spent $463 million on exploration in 2011, compared with $341 million in 2010.
B.C.'s mining sector invested more than $2.1 billion to upgrade equipment, expand existing operations and develop new mines in 2011, an energy and mines press release states.
The total value of mineral sales in B.C. is estimated to have risen to $8.6 billion from $7.1 billion in 2010.
Two major mines are under construction: the Mount Milligan copper-gold mine near Fort St. James and the New Afton copper-gold mine near Kamloops.
Construction is also expected to start this year on Barkerville Gold Mines Ltd.'s Bonanza Ledge property. (See “Barkerville’s Bonanza Gold Mine gets green light” – BIV Business Today, December 6, 2011.)
The B.C. government has committed under its jobs plan to expanding nine mines in B.C. and opening eight by 2015.
Nelson Bennett
@nbennett_biv