Canada is the leading country for mineral exploration for the 10th year in
 a row, according to the latest rankings from 
Metals Economics Group’s (MEG) Corporate 
Exploration Strategies. The country
 represents 18 percent of worldwide investments into non-fuel mineral
 exploration.

Here are some interesting figures on Canada from the MEG Corporate 
Exploration Strategies study, which Commodities Now says 
includes “precious and base metals, diamonds, uranium and some 
industrial minerals.”:

- Canadian-based companies accounted for more than half of the
 2,400+ active explorers in the 2011 report.

- Those companies, collectively, accounted for 40 percent of the
$17.25 billion budgeted by all companies for nonferrous exploration last 
year.

- If the $3.1 billion in planned Canadian nonferrous exploration 
spending, Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia accounted for more than 60
 percent, with a total of 781 companies planning to explore in Canada in 
2011.

In 2002, Canada overtook Australia as the world’s top country for 
exploration and has remained there for the last ten years. We can’t help
 but note that the Canadian economy benefits greatly from the country’s pro-mining stance.  According to the Fraser Institute,
 Canada’s leading free market think-tank, mining and metal processing has 
been (and is expected to remain) an important contributor to the country’s
 economic growth.

When taking into account that the mining industry was the only industry in the United States to add jobs since 2007, it seems clearly evident that many more jobs could be added if U.S. policy
makers would take a note from our northern neighbors and focus on fostering 
a climate that cultivates responsible investment in the growth sector of metals and minerals.