Africa's exploration budget declines 24% in 2016

While Africa accounted for 13%, or $ 916 million, of the global exploration budget in 2016, research from Standard & Poor's found it was 24% lower than in 2015.

Survey data found that of 34 mining countries in Africa, only the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) set an exploration budget higher than the previous year. S&P showed that drilling increased significantly in the last quarter of 2016.

Gold has long been the main drilling target in Africa, becoming the most valuable commodity produced in Africa. However, the largest number of planned and completed capital expenditures in 2016 was in slower projects, with the majority focusing on assets in the DRC. The next largest capitals were Botswana and Mauritania.

Coal and iron ore had the highest values ​​in South Africa and Morocco, being the key factors in terms of resource costs.