The value of mining exploration across the North is down, but exploration in the Porcupine Camp continues to be the busiest and most lucrative in all of Ontario. Mining exploration in the Porcupine Mining District alone showed a value of more than $19-million worth of exploration work that was carried out on 6,709 claims during 2016.
That was part of the report tabled this week by Ed van Hees, Ph.D.; the regional resident geologist for the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines in Timmins.
His report also showed that the $19-million exceeded the level of exploration work when compared to the other individual mining districts in Ontario. Work in the Thunder Bay area was just over $18-million. Next in line was exploration work in the Larder Lake area which was listed at a value of nearly $12-million. The Red Lake mining district was listed at only $8.6-million.
Still, the statistical information on claims exploration showed a drop of 15% for last year when compared to the previous year. The value of exploration claims in 2015 was $22.4-million.
The exploration file also showed that 97% of exploration budgets in the Timmins area in 2016 was spent in the search for gold. The report also showed that gold production in all of Ontario last year was higher than that of both copper and nickel combined.
The value of gold production was $3.92-billion for 2016. The value of copper production was $1.29-billion and the value of nickel production was $1.21-billion, said the report.
It also revealed there were 10 major mining operations in the local mining district last year, which included seven gold mines, one base metal mine, one diamond mine and one talc mine.
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