The provincial government expects mining exploration to be at its highest output ever come the end of the year.

Oil production is down significantly, although Terra Nova will be back online later this year. Finance Minister Siobhan Coady, speaking on Your Money with Nancy Sneddon of BDO, says while oil prices are well beyond the $86 per barrel her government forecast for this fiscal year, their royalties are down from $1.8-billion a few years ago to $800-million this year.

She says this shows that they have diversified the economy.

She says another area is mining exploration. According to Coady, “last year was a record year, and government expects this to be another record year for mining exploration.”