ABSTRACT
The economic health of both Australia and Canada depends to a significant extent on the mining sector of the respective economies. The viability of the mining sector, in turn, depends to a large degree on the success of mineral exploration. And, while luck may be a short-term determinant of exploration success, the importance of the mining sector in each of these countries is too great for its long-term survival to be left to chance. Thus the importance of a greater awareness of the economic nature of mineral exploration among exploration geologists, mining company executives, and government officials responsible for mineral policy. With better understanding of exploration investment, decisions affecting the mining sector can be made rationally. Knowledge of the economic productivity of mineral exploration—the subject of this chapter—is one aspect of that understanding.
