The head of the world's largest and oldest drilling services company says spending on mineral exploration will hit a record pace in 2011 and grow even more in 2012. The Financial Post reports from PDAC: And as CEO Craig Kipp is quick to point out in an interview, that is a great space to be in these days. According to a published forecast he uses, global exploration spending will reach a record US$14-billion this year. And if that sounds like a lot, a whopping US$19-billion is expected in 2012. “The outlook’s pretty good,” Mr. Kipp said in a rather big understatement. He thinks we are starting a three-year run of extremely elevated drilling activity. Mining companies have plenty of cash to burn and are having trouble finding good acquisitions, so it makes sense to spend it on drilling, he said.

Reporting from the PDAC, The London Free Press says the federal government will spend $25 million on mineral exploration over the next five years in the hopes of driving more mining business to Canada. Minister of Natural Resources Christian Paradis made the announcement from the annual mining conference in Toronto on Monday. The announcement more than doubles the initial two-year allocation of $12 million to help develop new ways of looking for deep mineral deposits and to help boost private sector activity in the highly lucrative and increasingly competitive industry, the minister's office said.

Ridgemont Iron Ore Corp. (TSX-V:RDG) has concluded a Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") with the Toquaht Nation whereby the parties have agreed to an ongoing business relationship with respect to the exploration and development of Ridgemont's Redford iron ore property located on Vancouver Island, outside of Ucluelet, British Columbia. The MOU establishes that Ridgemont and the Toquaht Nation will work together to establish a long term, mutually beneficial and cooperative business relationship.

Ucore Rare Metals Inc. (TSX-V:UCU) announced the first NI 43-101 compliant independent resource estimate for the company's 100%-owned Bokan Mountain rare earth element (REE) project in southeastern Alaska. The resource estimate was prepared by Aurora Geosciences Ltd. ("Aurora") of Yellowknife, NWT which recommends that the deposit merits additional drilling, metallurgical research and economic investigation.

Energy Fuels Inc. (TSX:EFR), an advanced uranium and vanadium development company, was issued the final Radioactive Materials Licence for the Piñon Ridge Uranium Mill today. As previously announced on January 5, 2011, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment ("CDPHE") approved a Radioactive Materials Licence for the 500-ton per-day Piñon Ridge Mill facility to be constructed 12 miles west of Naturita, Colorado in western Montrose County.

Great Panther Silver Limited has updated its mineral resources at the company's 100%-owned Topia silver-gold-lead-Zinc mine in Durango, Mexico. The 2011 mineral resource estimate, by Vancouver-based Roscoe Postle Associates (RPA), comprises measured & indicated ("M & I") mineral resources of 171,000 tonnes at 864g/t silver, 1.56g/t gold, 7.53% lead and 4.37% zinc (7.44 million silver equivalent ounces), a 36.3% increase over the 2009 resource estimate.

Papuan Precious Metals (TSX VENTURE:PAU)(OTCQX:PAUFF) announced that it has received geochemical results from 25 rock samples collected at its 100% owned Ioleu […]

Big Blue gold project (Ramelius Resources (ASX: RMS) + Marmota Energy Limited (ASX: MEU) earning 70%) Marmota Energy Limited (ASX: MEU) is pleased to announce drill testing of the Big Blue gold project in Nevada has commenced ahead of schedule. On the

Russian firms produced 7.53 tonnes of gold in January, 12.4 percent more than in January of 2010, the Gold Industrialists' Union industry lobby said on Saturday. The union expects gold production by Russia -- the world's No. 5 producer -- to rebound to 205-207 tonnes this year after it fell 1.4 percent last year to 201.3 tonnes.