AME urges Ottawa to honour exploration credit promise
Key Takeaways
- •The AME asked Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne to expand tax support for work done between mineral discovery and construction.
- •More than 65 companies and organizations signed the letter, including Newmont, 1911 Gold, the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada and the Mining Association of Canada.
- •The industry group wants engineering, economic and feasibility studies to qualify for the tax credit or be covered by a new project-advancement credit.
- •AME said only one critical-mineral mine has entered commercial production since Canada launched its Critical Minerals Strategy in 2022.
- •The Liberals had previously pledged to include such studies for critical-mineral projects, but the November budget still left project-advancement work ineligible.
The Association of Mineral Exploration (AME) is pressing Ottawa to expand Canadian Exploration Expense eligibility to cover project-advancement work, saying financing gaps are stalling critical-mineral projects after discovery.
In a July 17 letter to Finance and National Revenue Minister François-Philippe Champagne, the AME called for broader eligibility or a new project-advancement tax credit. More than 65 companies and groups signed the letter, including Newmont (NYSE, ASX: NEM), 1911 Gold (TSXV: AUMB; US-OTC: AUMBF), the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada and the Mining Association of Canada.
“If Canada wants more critical minerals, a more secure supply chain and greater economic resilience, we need to support the work that gets discoveries there,” AME president and CEO Todd Stone said in a statement.
The request focuses on the costly technical work between discovery and construction, a stage AME says Ottawa’s tax rules do not adequately support. That phase typically includes engineering, economic and feasibility studies, the sort of work companies need before a project can move forward with financing or construction decisions.
Canada strong
The Liberals made expanding expense eligibility part of their 2025 Canada Strong campaign platform, billed as Prime Minister Mark Carney’s plan to stand up to Donald Trump. The party pledged to include engineering, economic and feasibility studies for critical-mineral projects in order to attract investment and reduce risk.
The November budget added 12 minerals to the credit, but left project-advancement work ineligible.
Project bottlenecks
AME said only one critical-mineral mine has entered commercial production since Canada launched its Critical Minerals Strategy in 2022. The group argues that many projects stall between discovery and construction even when the geology is strong, leaving a long gap between finding a deposit and turning it into a producing mine.
“Project advancement is not optional or secondary work. It’s the stage that proves whether a discovery is technically sound, economically viable and ready to move toward construction,” Stone said.