Explanatory Notes for Tables of Mineral Exploration

Preliminary Estimates and Spending Intentions Statistics of Mineral Exploration

Table 01 - Exploration Plus Deposit Appraisal Expenditures, by Mineral Commodity Sought, 2017 - 2020 Annual, 2021 Preliminary Estimates and 2022 Spending Intentions

1. Expenses support work on plus off mine sites; they are allocated to engineering, economics, and pre- or production feasibility studies, the environment, land access and field work. They also include associated general expenses. Exploration and deposit appraisal activities include only the search for and appraisal of deposits and do not include work for extensions of known reserves.
2. 2021 Preliminary Estimates and 2022 Spending Intentions, collected between November 2021 and January 2022.
3. Preliminary Estimates Spending.
4. Spending Intentions. The distribution of Spending Intentions by commodity group is estimated using preliminary estimates data and publicly available information.

Table 02 - Exploration Plus Deposit Appraisal Expenditures, by Province and Territory, 2017 - 2020 Annual, 2021 Preliminary Estimates and 2022 Spending Intentions

1. Expenses support work on plus off mine sites; they are allocated to engineering, economics, and pre- or production feasibility studies, the environment, land access and field work. They also include associated general expenses. Exploration and deposit appraisal activities include only the search for and appraisal of deposits and do not include work for extensions of known reserves.
2. 2021 Preliminary Estimates and 2022 Spending Intentions, collected between November 2021 and January 2022.
3. Preliminary Estimates Spending.
4. Spending Intentions.

Table 03 - Exploration Plus Deposit Appraisal Expenditures, by Junior and Senior Companies, by Province and Territory, 2017 - 2020 Annual, 2021 Preliminary Estimates and 2022 Spending Intentions

1. Expenses support work on plus off mine sites; they are allocated to engineering, economics, and pre- or production feasibility studies, the environment, land access and field work. They also include associated general expenses. Exploration and deposit appraisal activities include only the search for and appraisal of deposits and do not include work for extensions of known reserves.
2. 2021 Preliminary Estimates and 2022 Spending Intentions, collected between November 2021 and January 2022.
3. Preliminary Estimates Spending.
4. Spending Intentions.

Table 09 - Exploration Plus Deposit Appraisal Expenditures, by Province and Territory, by Mineral Commodity Sought, 2019

1. Expenses support work on plus off mine sites; they are allocated to engineering, economics, and pre- or production feasibility studies, the environment, land access and field work. They also include associated general expenses. Exploration and deposit appraisal activities include only the search for and appraisal of deposits and do not include work for extensions of known reserves.
2. Includes other metals, coal and nonmetals.

Table 04 - Exploration Plus Deposit Appraisal Expenditures, by Province and Territory, by Mineral Commodity Sought, 2020

1. Expenses support work on plus off mine sites; they are allocated to engineering, economics, and pre- or production feasibility studies, the environment, land access and field work. They also include associated general expenses. Exploration and deposit appraisal activities include only the search for and appraisal of deposits and do not include work for extensions of known reserves.
2. Includes other metals, coal and nonmetals.

Table 05 - Exploration Plus Deposit Appraisal Expenditures, by Province and Territory, by Mineral Commodity Sought, 2021 Preliminary Estimates

1. Expenses support work on plus off mine sites; they are allocated to engineering, economics, and pre- or production feasibility studies, the environment, land access and field work. They also include associated general expenses. Exploration and deposit appraisal activities include only the search for and appraisal of deposits and do not include work for extensions of known reserves.
2. Includes other metals, coal and nonmetals.
3. 2021 Preliminary Estimates and 2022 Spending Intentions, collected between November 2021 and January 2022.
4. Preliminary Estimates Spending.

Table 06 - Exploration Plus Deposit Appraisal Expenditures, by Province and Territory, by Mineral Commodity Sought, 2022 Spending Intentions

1. Expenses support work on plus off mine sites; they are allocated to engineering, economics, and pre- or production feasibility studies, the environment, land access and field work. They also include associated general expenses. Exploration and deposit appraisal activities include only the search for and appraisal of deposits and do not include work for extensions of known reserves.
2. Includes other metals, coal and nonmetals.
3. 2022 Spending Intentions, collected between November 2021 and January 2022. The Distribution of Spending Intentions by commodity group is estimated using preliminary estimates data and publicly available information.

Table 07 - Exploration Plus Deposit Appraisal Activity, by Province and Territory, 2019

1. Includes on-mine-site plus off-mine-site activities.
2. Includes stripping, trenching, shaft work, drifts, cross-cuts, raises, declines, rock sampling, and dewatering costs.

Table 08 - Exploration Plus Deposit Appraisal Activity, by Province and Territory, 2020

1. Includes on-mine-site plus off-mine-site activities.
2. Includes stripping, trenching, shaft work, drifts, cross-cuts, raises, declines, rock sampling, and dewatering costs.

Table 10 - Exploration and Deposit Appraisal Expenditures Separately, by Province and Territory, 2017 - 2020 Annual, 2021 Preliminary Estimates and 2022 Spending Intentions

1. Expenses support work on plus off mine sites; they are allocated to engineering, economics, and pre- or production feasibility studies, the environment, land access and field work. They also include associated general expenses. Exploration and deposit appraisal activities include only the search for and appraisal of deposits and do not include work for extensions of known reserves.
2. Preliminary Estimates Spending.
3. Spending Intentions.
4. 2021 Preliminary Estimates and 2022 Spending Intentions, collected between November 2021 and January 2022.
5. The exploration work phase is defined as the search for, discovery, and first delimitation of a previously unknown mineral deposit or the re-evaluation of a sub-marginal or neglected mineral deposit in order to enhance its potential economic interest based on delimited tonnage, grade, and other characteristics. The phase is completed when a deposit has sufficient indicated mineral resources accompanied by a positive scoping study (preliminary economic assessment that justifies additional, more detailed, and costly deposit appraisal work.
6. The deposit appraisal work phase is defined as the steps undertaken to bring a delimited deposit, by definition drilling, comprehensive tests, and planning, to the stage of detailed knowledge required for a complete feasibility study that will fully justify and support a production decision and the large investment required.

Table 11 - Total Mineral Resource Development Investments, 2021 Preliminary Estimates and 2022 Spending Intentions

1. Overhead expenditures included mineral leases, claims and project-related overhead costs.
2. 2021 Preliminary Estimates and 2022 Spending Intentions, collected between November 2021 and January 2022.
3. Preliminary Estimates Spending.
4. Spending Intentions.

Table 12 - Total Mineral Resource Development Investments, by Province and Territory, 2019 - 2020 Annual, 2021 Preliminary Estimates and 2022 Spending Intentions

1. Preliminary Estimates Spending.
2. Spending Intentions. To Note: Repair and maintenance are not collected for this period. However, this data was estimated using the previous preliminary estimates survey.
3. 2021 Preliminary Estimates and 2022 Spending Intentions, collected between November 2021 and January 2022.
4. Includes surveys and field work, engineering, economic and feasibility studies, as well as activities related to the environment and land access.
5. Includes non-residential construction, machinery and equipment.
6. Includes the repairs to structures, machinery and equipment.
7. Expenditures support the activities on mine sites and off mine sites.

Annual and Revised Spending Intentions Statistics of Mineral Exploration

Table 26 - Exploration Plus Deposit Appraisal Expenditures, by Mineral Commodity Sought, 2017 - 2021 Annual and 2022 Revised Spending Intentions

1. Expenses support work on plus off mine sites; they are allocated to engineering, economics, and pre- or production feasibility studies, the environment, land access and field work. They also include associated general expenses. Exploration and deposit appraisal activities include only the search for and appraisal of deposits and do not include work for extensions of known reserves.
2. 2021 Annual and 2022 Revised Spending Intentions, collected between April and September 2022.
3. Revised Spending Intentions. The distribution of Revised Spending Intentions by commodity group is estimated using annual data and publicly available information.

Table 27 - Exploration Plus Deposit Appraisal Expenditures, by Province and Territory, 2018 - 2021 Annual and 2022 Revised Spending Intentions

1. Expenses support work on plus off mine sites; they are allocated to engineering, economics, and pre- or production feasibility studies, the environment, land access and field work. They also include associated general expenses. Exploration and deposit appraisal activities include only the search for and appraisal of deposits and do not include work for extensions of known reserves.
2. 2021 Annual and 2022 Revised Spending Intentions, collected between April and September 2022.
3. Revised Spending Intentions.

Table 28 - Exploration Plus Deposit Appraisal Expenditures, by Junior and Senior Companies, by Province and Territory, 2018 - 2021 Annual and 2022 Revised Spending Intentions

1. Expenses support work on plus off mine sites; they are allocated to engineering, economics, and pre- or production feasibility studies, the environment, land access and field work. They also include associated general expenses. Exploration and deposit appraisal activities include only the search for and appraisal of deposits and do not include work for extensions of known reserves.
2. 2021 Annual and 2022 Revised Spending Intentions, collected between April and September 2022.
3. Revised Spending Intentions.

Table 29 - Exploration Plus Deposit Appraisal Expenditures, by Province and Territory, by Mineral Commodity Sought, 2020

1. Expenses support work on plus off mine sites; they are allocated to engineering, economics, and pre- or production feasibility studies, the environment, land access and field work. They also include associated general expenses. Exploration and deposit appraisal activities include only the search for and appraisal of deposits and do not include work for extensions of known reserves.
2. Includes other metals, coal and nonmetals.

Table 30 - Exploration Plus Deposit Appraisal Expenditures, by Province and Territory, by Mineral Commodity Sought, 2021

1. Expenses support work on plus off mine sites; they are allocated to engineering, economics, and pre- or production feasibility studies, the environment, land access and field work. They also include associated general expenses. Exploration and deposit appraisal activities include only the search for and appraisal of deposits and do not include work for extensions of known reserves.
2. Includes other metals, coal and nonmetals.

Table 36 - Exploration Plus Deposit Appraisal Expenditures, by Province and Territory, by Mineral Commodity Sought, 2022 Revised Spending Intentions

1. Expenses support work on plus off mine sites; they are allocated to engineering, economics, and pre- or production feasibility studies, the environment, land access and field work. They also include associated general expenses. Exploration and deposit appraisal activities include only the search for and appraisal of deposits and do not include work for extensions of known reserves.
2. Includes other metals, coal and nonmetals.
3. Revised Spending Intentions, collected between April and September 2022. The Distribution of Revised Spending Intentions by commodity group is estimated using annual data and publicly available information.

Table 31 - Exploration Plus Deposit Appraisal Activity, by Province and Territory, 2019

1. Includes on-mine-site plus off-mine-site activities.
2. Includes stripping, trenching, shaft work, drifts, cross-cuts, raises, declines, rock sampling, and dewatering costs.

Table 35 - Exploration Plus Deposit Appraisal Activity, by Province and Territory, 2020

1. Includes on-mine-site plus off-mine-site activities.
2. Includes stripping, trenching, shaft work, drifts, cross-cuts, raises, declines, rock sampling, and dewatering costs.

Table 37 - Exploration Plus Deposit Appraisal Activity, by Province and Territory, 2021

1. Includes on-mine-site plus off-mine-site activities.
2. Includes stripping, trenching, shaft work, drifts, cross-cuts, raises, declines, rock sampling, and dewatering costs.

Table 33 - Exploration and Deposit Appraisal Expenditures Separately, by Province and Territory, 2018 - 2021 Annual and 2022 Revised Spending Intentions

1. Expenses support work on plus off mine sites; they are allocated to engineering, economics, and pre- or production feasibility studies, the environment, land access and field work. They also include associated general expenses.
2. Revised Spending Intentions.
3. 2021 Annual and 2022 Revised Spending Intentions, collected between April and September 2022.
4. The exploration work phase is defined as the search for, discovery, and first delimitation of a previously unknown mineral deposit or the re-evaluation of a sub-marginal or neglected mineral deposit in order to enhance its potential economic interest based on delimited tonnage, grade, and other characteristics. The phase is completed when a deposit has sufficient indicated mineral resources accompanied by a positive scoping study (preliminary economic assessment) that justifies additional, more detailed, and costly deposit appraisal work.
5. The deposit appraisal work phase is defined as the steps undertaken to bring a delimited deposit, by definition drilling, comprehensive tests, and planning, to the stage of detailed knowledge required for a complete feasibility study that will fully justify and support a production decision and the large investment required.

Table 32 - Total Mineral Resource Development Investments, 2021 Annual and 2022 Revised Spending Intentions

1. Overhead expenditures included mineral leases, claims and project-related overhead costs.
2. Revised Spending Intentions.
3. 2021 Annual and 2022 Revised Spending Intentions, collected between April and September 2022.

Table 34 - Total Mineral Resource Development Investments, by Province and Territory, 2019 - 2021 Annual and 2022 Revised Spending Intentions

1. Revised Spending Intentions. To Note: Repair and maintenance are not collected for this period. However, this data was estimated using the previous annual survey.
2. 2021 Annual and 2022 Revised Spending Intentions, collected between April and September 2022.
3. Includes surveys and field work, engineering, economic and feasibility studies, as well as activities related to the environment and land access.
4. Includes non-residential construction, machinery and equipment.
5. Includes the repairs to structures, machinery and equipment.
6. Expenditures support the activities on mine sites and off mine sites.