Global mining exploration budgets fell for a third straight year in 2025, even as a sharp rise in gold spending and a rebound in financing helped cushion a broader pullback across the sector, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence’s latest World Exploration Trends report.
The report found global exploration budgets slipped 1% to $12.4bn last year, extending a decline from the recent peak of $13.1bn in 2022, as persistent financing constraints, weaker sentiment toward several battery metals and geopolitical uncertainty continued to weigh on spending.
Although the drop appears modest on the surface, S&P said the weakness is more pronounced when inflation is taken into account and reflects a market that remains selective about where capital is deployed.
The standout exception was gold, which dominated global exploration activity in 2025 as prices surged to record highs. Gold exploration budgets rose 11% to $6.15bn, accounting for half of all global exploration spending as companies responded to stronger prices and heightened geopolitical uncertainty.
S&P said the rally in gold prices was driven by a combination of escalating geopolitical tension, central bank buying and expectations of US interest rate cuts, helping to channel capital back into the precious metals segment.
Copper also was resilient, with exploration budgets rising 2% to $3.27bn, a 12-year high, supported by demand linked to electrification, decarbonisation and artificial intelligence-related infrastructure.
But strength in gold and copper was not enough to lift the wider industry.
Lithium was the largest drag on exploration spending in 2025, with budgets falling 46% to $595m, while nickel budgets dropped 37% to $332m and cobalt spending fell 41% to just $31m as weaker prices and oversupply dampened investor appetite across parts of the battery metals complex.
The report also pointed to a deeper structural shift in how exploration capital is being allocated.
Rather than backing higher-risk early-stage discovery, companies increasingly directed money toward lower-risk work around existing operations. Exploration budgets at and around existing mines rose 13% to a record $5.63bn, lifting minesite exploration to 45% of global budgets, the highest share on record. By contrast, grassroots exploration — the earliest stage of the pipeline where entirely new deposits are sought — fell 8% to $2.57bn, or 21% of global budgets, the lowest level in the dataset.
The report points to that shift being particularly visible among larger mining companies, which continued to dominate spending in 2025, while junior explorers remained under pressure from a still-restrictive financing environment. Junior exploration budgets fell 13% to $4.39bn, showing the continued difficulty smaller companies face in funding pure exploration work.
S&P said the prolonged move away from grassroots exploration risks constraining the industry’s future project pipeline, even as it supports shorter-term production growth and mine-life extensions.
Africa was among the regions to record growth last year, with exploration budgets on the continent rising 11% to $1.44bn, according to the report. S&P attributed stronger regional performance in part to support from gold and copper prices, as well as the role of major mining companies with stronger balance sheets.
Within Africa, the report highlighted Côte d’Ivoire and the Democratic Republic of the Congo among the countries showing stronger exploration activity, while Mali recorded its third consecutive annual decline. The report did not provide country-specific information for South Africa.
Drilling activity showed some signs of recovery during the year, though the rebound was uneven.
A total of 56,015 drillholes were reported across 1,244 projects last year, representing a 30% increase in drillholes and a 1% increase in drilled projects from the previous year. Gold remained the most intensively drilled commodity, while other metals continued to lag, with lithium weakness weighing heavily on activity.
Financing conditions for mining projects improved sharply.
Funds raised by junior and intermediate companies more than doubled in 2025, rising 109% year-on-year to $21.43bn, marking the second-highest annual total on record and ending three consecutive years of decline. S&P linked the recovery to lower interest rates and stronger metal prices, particularly for gold, copper and silver.
However, the report said much of that capital was directed toward mine development rather than exploration, which shows why stronger fundraising did not translate into a broad-based recovery in exploration budgets.
Looking ahead, S&P said exploration activity could improve this year, supported by elevated gold, copper, and silver prices, easing financing conditions, and stronger momentum in the second half. But it warned that geopolitical tensions, commodity price volatility, inflation and regulatory uncertainty continue to cloud the outlook, even as the industry grapples with a longer-term shift away from early-stage discovery.
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