According to Thesaurus.com -...

According to Thesaurus.com - http://www.thesaurus.com/browse/research?s=t - "Research" and "Exploration" mean the same thing. Therefore, (mineral) exploration is technically (mineral) research. The fact that minerals are being researched is irrelevant.

Anyway, wouldn't it be integral for the survival of every mining company in the world (not to mention a core part of their strategy), to perform some sort of research and development in order to be able to explore and drill in the first place? I'm sure they don't just go, "Right, I've got a shovel, now let's look over here!" They would have to research where they're going to explore and develop ways and means of being able to find what they're looking for, wouldn't you think?

I doubt that there'd be many mining companies that don't utilize R&D grants...