Thank you, Mr. Chair and committee members, for the opportunity to speak today.
My colleague, Jeff Killeen, is with me. He is the director of policy and programs at PDAC.
With over 7,200 members around the world, PDAC is the leading voice of the mineral exploration and development community and our work centres on supporting a creative, responsible mineral industry.
PDAC and the mineral industry have been a continuous constructive partner in the development of the CORE since the initiative was first announced in 2018. Through numerous submissions and engagements, PDAC has remained confident that the CORE can play a vital role in promoting safe and responsible business practices and provide a transparent process for Canadian companies that operate abroad.
Exploration is the vital first stage of the mineral industry ecosystem where prospectors and small exploration companies predominate in the search for economically viable deposits that have the potential to become a producing mine.
Companies involved in mineral exploration, both domestically and abroad, understand they are guests in the communities in which they operate and business must be conducted in a responsible, respectful manner.
Canada's excellence in mineral exploration extends beyond scientific and financial expertise and includes global leadership in responsible, social, and safety practices. In 2009 PDAC developed e3 plus, a framework for responsible exploration, as a resource to help exploration companies improve their social, environmental and health and safety performance, which was the first comprehensive guidance on responsible exploration ever produced.
Together with the Mining Association of Canada's towards sustainable mining initiative, our industry has made tremendous strides in the area of responsible business conduct over the last decade.
Successful development of a prospective mineral project relies explicitly on obtaining a social licence to operate. In this context, Canadian mineral exploration and mining companies continue to evolve best practices with respect to engagement and disclosure in step with rapid growth in public demand for responsible investment funds. This evolution is necessary for Canadian companies to remain competitive as ESG, environmental, social and governance, performance becomes increasingly important to investors.
The COVID-19 pandemic has reminded us of the resilience of the mineral industry as many companies quickly adapted to find ways to continue operating safely. Direct industry support, such as personal protective equipment donations, monetary contributions and other goods and services, exceeded $150 million through the first six months of 2020.
The mineral industry will continue to play a substantial international role as the world heals from the effects of COVID-19. Roughly half of all Canadian exploration and mining companies operated abroad in 2019 with foreign assets in over 96 countries valued at over $178 billion. This represents more than two-thirds of the total value of Canadian mining assets. Moreover, Canadian-headquartered companies account for a material portion of exploration activity in almost every country and collectively represent approximately 30% of global exploration spending.
PDAC is very appreciative of the level of engagement and consultation provided by the CORE in working to define such things as the operating procedures and related frameworks. Given the fulsome engagement process conducted to date, and in light of the $16 million in funding announced in yesterday's budget to support implementation of the CORE's mandate, PDAC recommends that the CORE should move forward with the currently defined collaborative approach before considering any expansion of its mandate. It is only through this practice that the CORE can assess its efficacy.
Respecting human rights must be a top priority for all Canadian companies operating abroad, whether based in the resource extraction sector or otherwise.
We look forward to ongoing collaboration with the CORE to ensure that Canada's mining and exploration sector can continue to be a global leader in sustainable and responsible practices.
Thank you again for your time and for considering my comments. We welcome any questions.