Gold at highs,
discoveries at lows

By Blair McBride

Gold prices have more than doubled since starting their huge climb in December 2023, but exploration spending hasn’t kept pace. While global gold exploration expenditures grew 11% in 2025, gold discoveries across North America since 2023 have been limited to brownfield extensions* and small projects rather than the multi-million-ounce greenfield finds of the early 2020's. Meanwhile, M&A-minded gold majors rely on juniors to explore before they buy them, amassing M&A war chests to gain from the soaring gold price. In this infographic, The Northern Miner takes a glance at the contrasting, even surprising, dynamics at play in the gold sector over the last few years.