Half of companies have ceased all exploration operations, survey suggests A uranium mine in Australia. Photo courtesy WikiMedia Commons. Australia’s Association of Mining and Exploration Companies, which represents over 275 member companies and has a working group on uranium, says it is “extremely concerned for the industry” following a survey of its members on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Since covid-19 restrictions were imposed a month ago, nearly half of the companies surveyed had ceased all exploration operations, and over a quarter more had ceased most exploration operations, the survey said.

“While partially exempt from travel restrictions, our industry is not immune from other impacts of Covid-19 which has all but killed investment appetite for exploration, meaning that companies are unable to attract private investment to continue exploration and fund their operations,” the association said.

The survey found that 74% of exploration companies had ceased all or most exploration operations, 47% had ceased all exploration and 27% had ceased most exploration.

Without the ability to raise capital, 74% of respondents thought their cash reserves would last less than a year. Only 25% considered they had cash reserves to last beyond a year.

Nearly half of these companies had actual or planned redundancies. Of those, 97% had actual or planned redundancies of between 1-10 employees. The survey found 75% have already reduced wages or adjusted salaries down for employees.