African mining ministers could emulate a thing or two from the recent approach by the government of Canada to attract investment into its mining sector.
mining.com reports that the Government of Canada has decided to extend the Mineral Exploration Tax Credit, which was ending on March 31, for a full extra year, the country’s natural resources.
According to the online news portal, 85th version of the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada’s (PDAC) International Convention in Toronto, the country’s minister of natural resources, Jim Carr, revealed that the 15% mineral exploration tax credit is intended to incentivise junior mineral exploration companies and their investors to spend on early-stage mineral projects.
The incentive, called the flow-through shares system, allows junior miners to issue shares to investors to fund exploration projects. In this way backers can deduct the exploration company’s expenses against their taxable income. The mineral exploration tax credit adds a 15% incentive on top of that.
In 2015, over 200 companies are said to have utilised the credit by granting “flow-through shares”. More than 410, 000 investors are said to have benefited from the scheme.
