Global equity investment in the mineral sector crept higher in 2024, yet the total remained “significantly below both 2021 and pre-2018 benchmarks,” marking a third straight year of muted activity. PDAC’s core message in its 2025 Mineral Finance report is blunt: the modest rebound owes almost everything to a historic surge in gold prices rather than a broad revival in risk appetite.
Canada supplied the lone bright spot. Equity raised by domestic mineral issuers jumped about 45% year on year to $7.7 billion, pushing the country’s share of world mine finance to 31% from 23% and vaulting it past Australia to reclaim first place.
The headline, however, flatters a shrinking pond; total capital raised by all Canadian issuers across every sector has averaged just $23 billion over the past three years, barely half the $50 billion norm of the previous decade.
Within that diminished pool, mining now dominates. Mineral companies have taken 37% of all domestic equity since 2022 and exceeded 50% in 2024 and the first half of 2025.
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Yet the cash is concentrating at the top. Micro-cap explorers with market values below $100 million constitute 79% of listed miners—861 firms—yet their share of financing has withered to roughly 7%. The fifty largest deals captured 69% of all money raised last year, leaving roughly 1,300 other transactions to fight over what little remained. PDAC calls the result an “increasingly concentrated—and fragile—capital raising environment.”
The skew can be traced to the commodities with gold advancing 27% in 2024 and another 28% to June 5, 2025, setting new records amid macro uncertainty, inflation hedging and aggressive central bank buying. Base metal benchmarks such as copper and zinc were flat to down over the same span, while lithium fell 12%.
PDAC notes that without the gold bid, total investment “would likely have remained flat at best, and possibly tailed off materially from 2023 levels.”
The association argues that Ottawa must move quickly to keep discovery pipelines alive. It urges the Canadian Securities Administrators to align the pending overhaul of NI 43-101 with global best practices so early stage companies can raise capital efficiently.
PDAC also wants Parliament to renew the Mineral Exploration Tax Credit, broaden Canadian Exploration Expense eligibility to cover engineering and feasibility studies, extend the clean tech manufacturing credit to polymetallic and brownfield projects, and enlarge the Critical Mineral Exploration Tax Credit roster.
Information for this story was found via the sources mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to the organizations discussed. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
