…2017 was just the first year with a small increase after a huge drop off in exploration activity. It may take many years of future increases to get back to where the activity was in 2012, as projected increases in exploration spending are seen to be slow and steady.

Two potentially important Canadian projects, which could have produced revenues in the billions and jobs in the tens of thousands, have now been officially abandoned and the reasons offered by both relate to the economic impossibility of successfully negotiating all the regulatory obstacles that have been presented.