Why has resource exploration funding declined?

Several factors have contributed to the decline of exploration funding.

Murphy noted that in the past decade, interest in the mining industry has seen competition, with new investors pursuing headline-grabbing opportunities in cryptocurrencies and elsewhere in the tech sector.

Meanwhile, many older investors in the industry began using their profits to fund their retirements.

In addition, much investment in the resource sector is focused on mining rather than juniors, which perform the majority of exploration. There has been little trickle down in funding from the majors to the juniors.

Aside from that, Murphy explained that for many metals, including copper, the focus has shifted away from greenfield exploration aimed at discovering new deposits. Instead, copper majors are performing more mine site exploration aimed at expanding resources at existing operations and, more broadly, increasing efficiency.

While mine site exploration increases supply, Murphy said it indicates structural deficiencies in the future.

“We’re adding to reserves and resources, but we’re adding to old discoveries — so assets that were discovered in the ’90s, ’80s and the ’60s,” he said. While this is replacing current production, Murphy believes that more money should be spent on greenfield exploration and the discovery of resources needed to meet future demand growth.

When it comes to the gold sector, which has been focused on mine site exploration for a longer time, Murphy suggested the downward trend in exploration funding has multiple causes.

“It’s been a rough go in 2024 for the juniors, and the juniors historically love gold exploration,” he said. ‘There’s been some pretty high-level M&A, and we find in exploration that … when large companies come together, they pare down their assets, and what would have been a tier-one asset for one company becomes a tier two and is put on hold.’

Even though gold has soared to record high prices, greenfield exploration funding hasn’t benefited. This is largely due to high inflation over the past several years, which has pushed operational costs higher and decreased margins.

When these foundational challenges come into perspective, untying purse strings becomes more difficult.

How geopolitics impacts resource exploration funding

Geopolitics is another major factor in exploration funding in 2025, according to Murphy.

He shared his thoughts on how this can affect Canadian mining companies.

“The Canadian government — there’s a lot of uncertainty there, and also that uncertainty happens to flow through to some very important programs like the METC, which is very good for exploration,” he said.

The METC, or Mineral Exploration Tax Credit, is part of a flow-through scheme that passes on paper costs to investors, allowing them to claim a 15 percent tax rebate on their investments.

The program’s future was uncertain going into PDAC, but on March 3, the day after Murphy’s presentation, Jonathan Wilkinson, Canada’s minister of energy and natural resources, extended it until March 31, 2027.

Even so, a great deal of unknowns remain. The Canadian government won’t sit again until March 24, this time with a new prime minister at the helm and with the almost-certain fate of a new election being called.

The continual threat of tariffs from the US has added to the chaos.

Investor takeaway

Looking at factors that may move the needle on exploration funding in 2025, Murphy said gold should do ‘pretty well’ under the Trump administration given its status as a safe-haven asset in times of uncertainty.

At the same time, global electrification remains a focus, which could help metals like copper.

However, exploration funding for other metals isn’t looking quite so rosy.

‘Will that be enough to push us into exploration budget growth this year? I would argue absolutely not,’ he said.

“The question really is going to be how far down we go this year, and if gold majors in particular are going to be increasing their budgets enough to counter what people see as being a pretty sour scenario for a lot of other commodities,’ Murphy explained to the audience at PDAC.

Whether or not the exploration funding cycle has bottomed remains to be seen.

‘Financing conditions continue to be incredibly challenging,’ Murphy said.

Bitcoin and Ethereum price update

Bitcoin (BTC) is currently trading at US$84,430.77, a 1.3 percent increase over the past 24 hours. The day’s trading range has seen a high of US$84,583.84 and a low of US$82,669.84.

Despite the recent market downturn, traders are now seeing historical patterns that suggest Bitcoin’s price could rise. Network economist Timothy Peterson said a repeat of Bitcoin’s historical pattern could mean that the token could hit a new ATH, potentially around US$126,000, by June.

Bitcoin performance, March 17, 2025.

Chart via TradingView.

Ethereum (ETH) is priced at US$1,940.40, marking a 2.9 percent increase over the same period. The cryptocurrency reached an intraday high of US$1,949.66 and a low of US$1,892.89.

Ether’s price has been stuck below US$2,000 for several reasons that indicate a risk-off sentiment for investors, including declining network activity and decreasing TVL, negative spot Ethereum ETF flows and weak technicals.

An analysis shows the potential of a bear flag forming, which could mean more downside in the coming days. Testing of Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade is set to begin on Hoodi today, and the upgrade will be launched 30+ days after Hoodi forks successfully.

Altcoin price update

• Solana (SOL) is currently valued at US$129.70, up 2.1 percent over the past 24 hours. SOL experienced a high of US$130.53.61 and a low of US$125.97 on Monday.

• XRP is trading at US$2.36, reflecting a 2.6 percent increase over the past 24 hours. The cryptocurrency recorded an intraday high of US$2.38 and a low of US$2.31.

• Sui (SUI) is priced at US$2.36, showing a 5.2 percent increase over the past 24 hours. It achieved a daily high of US$2.37 and a low of US$2.27.

• Cardano (ADA) is trading at US$0.7251, reflecting a 3.4 percent increase over the past 24 hours. Its highest price on Friday was US$0.7291, with a low of US$0.7150.

Crypto news to know

CME launches Solana futures

The highly anticipated launch of Solana (SOL) futures trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) saw its inaugural block trade completed on Sunday evening. Digital asset prime broker FalconX announced the completion of the inaugural block trade of Solana (SOL) futures contracts with financial services company StoneX acting as the counterparty.

This transaction occurred amidst a period of notable volatility for SOL. Leading up to March 17, the price of SOL experienced a decline, coinciding with reductions in both network transaction volume and Total Value Locked (TVL).

Additionally, open interest in SOL has decreased significantly, and technical analysis suggests a potential further price drop of up to 35 percent. Analysts have identified the US$120 level as a critical support threshold; a breach of this level could lead to a test of support at US$110.BNY Mellon deepens ties with Circle for stablecoin services

Financial giant BNY Mellon is expanding its services to include digital assets by partnering with stablecoin giant Circle. This collaboration will allow select BNY Mellon clients to send and receive funds to and from Circle, and to buy and sell Circle’s USDC stablecoins. This move signifies the increasing acceptance of stablecoins in traditional finance and demonstrates BNY Mellon’s dedication to innovation and adapting to client needs.

Strategy’s latest Bitcoin purchase

Strategy announced its latest Bitcoin purchase on Monday, acquiring 130 Bitcoins for around US$10.7 million in cash, at an average price of roughly US$82,981 per Bitcoin. This marks the company’s smallest acquisition on record, made using proceeds from the “STRK ATM,” a new Strategy program looking to raise up to US$21 billion in fresh capital to acquire more Bitcoin. Strategy is now just 774 tokens shy of 500,000.

Ripple Labs plans cryptocurrency custody expansion

Ripple Labs, the company behind XRP, appears to be planning an expansion into cryptocurrency custody, according to a trademark application for “Ripple Custody” dated February 25.

The filing also reveals plans for downloadable software to custody and manage various currencies, including crypto and fiat, suggesting Ripple may be developing a cryptocurrency wallet, a service it doesn’t currently offer. Providing wallet services would also generate new revenue for Ripple through transaction fees.

Copper tariff investigation boosts prices

Deemed essential for widespread electrification, copper is listed on all critical minerals lists.

The US produced 1.1 million metric tons of copper and 890,000 metric tons of refined copper in 2024. However, according to the US Geological Survey, the country also imported 810,000 metric tons of refined copper last year.

In late February, the Trump administration launched a Section 232 investigation into copper imports.

It’s been described by Peter Navarro, trade adviser for the White House, as a move to curb China’s expanding copper sector while addressing vulnerabilities in the US supply chain.

Navarro has stressed the need to restore domestic mining, smelting and refining of copper, citing military and technological applications. News of the investigation and concerns about potential tariffs targeting the sector pushed have copper prices over 9 percent higher, from US$4.50 per pound on February 27 to US$4.94 on March 17.

As Bazilian pointed out, the rise has come in part due to tariff speculation, which has been reflected in a price discrepancy between copper trading on the COMEX and London Metal Exchange.

“You know that delta has increased, so the markets have already priced in the tariffs. That’s what it should be doing,” he said, noting that the markets for some minor metals lack similar mechanisms.

“The minor metals have no such price transparency or discovery,” he noted. ‘But if you have robust markets, they can be a really good bolster against what will always be a rapidly changing and uncertain political landscape.”

Critical minerals deals in jeopardy

Aside from the added costs tariffs are expected create, they are doing damage to the friendly, decades-long relationship between Canada and the US, and concerns about joint projects are coming to the forefront.

In December, the US Department of Defense (DoD) earmarked US$15.8 million to help advance a tungsten project in the Yukon. The deal, which also included C$12.9 million from the Canadian government, was hailed as “close collaboration among like-minded partners” aimed at unlocking critical minerals development.

It is part of the larger US-Canadian Joint Action Plan on Critical Minerals.

‘Tungsten is used in a diverse set of DoD systems and is essential to national security,’ Dr. Laura Taylor-Kale, assistant secretary of defense for industrial base policy, said in a press release.

‘The United States is overly reliant on overseas sources of tungsten and a secure North American supply for this commodity will mitigate one of our most critical material risks. This award also highlights the importance of the Department’s partnership with our Canadian allies,’ Taylor-Kale continued.

Bazilian said while government investment is important, it’s not sufficient and in this case has become uncertain.

“There’s been investment in Canada by the Pentagon. I’m not sure that will continue,” he said.

“We have to look at financial mechanisms that help investors look at demand — (they need) some kind of certainty on the demand side, whether it’s an offtake agreement or something else. That’s not going to come from the DoD — while the US DoD is massive, it’s not big enough to to provide all of that downstream,” Bazilian emphasized.

The professor also noted that unclear capital structures and limited access to funds are creating challenges for investment, and without both supply and demand certainty, securing financing will remain difficult.