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PDAC e-News and Activities, September 28, 2007, No. 47
Page Index
Tax treatment of community consultation and
environmental baseline costs now clarified
Engagement of all stakeholders
is essential to mining’s sustainability, say mines ministers
New insurance program provides
professional liability coverage at reasonable rates
Assembly of First Nations National
Chief will speak in Toronto on October 12
Members’ views on Canada’s
securities regulatory regime invited
Confidentiality agreements should
be carefully worded
The Barrick challenge: extract silver
from silica economically
Are members interested in receiving
CIM’s Exploration and Mining Geology?
Tax treatment of
community consultation and environmental baseline costs now clarified
The federal government has released a set of guidelines that it will use
to determine whether costs incurred by exploration companies for
community consultations, baseline environmental studies, and feasibility
studies will qualify as Canadian exploration expenses (CEE). The PDAC
has been advocating for this clarification for more than four years, and
the announcement by Canada Revenue Agency marks an important development
for the industry. Under the CRA guidelines, activities such as
environmental assessment or consultation processes undertaken to meet a
legal or informal obligation under the terms of an exploration permit
will, for the most part, be treated as CEE.
Click here for a copy of the guidelines and
here for the
PDAC’s news release announcing their publication.
Engagement of all
stakeholders is essential to mining’s sustainability, say mines
ministers
At their annual conference recently, Canada’s mines ministers agreed
that engagement of governments, Aboriginal peoples, communities,
industry and other interested parties is essential to ensuring the long
term sustainability of Canada's mining sector. The ministers directed
that steps to facilitate this be taken, including the development of
best practices involving government, industry and aboriginal peoples. As
part of the conference, John Thompson of Teck Cominco Ltd. gave a
presentation on the importance of geoscience, and Doug Brown of NovaGold
Resources Inc. spoke about his company’s partnership with the Tahltan
First Nation and the importance of flow-through share financing in the
development of Galore Creek. PDAC representatives attending the
conference included president Patricia Dillon; first and second
vice-presidents Jon Baird and Scott Jobin-Bevans; executive director
Tony Andrews, Philip Bousquet, director, sustainability, and MaryAnn
Mihychuk, director, regulatory affairs. A copy of the news release
following the conference is
here, and a copy
of the PDAC’s submission is
here.
New insurance program provides
professional liability coverage at reasonable rates
The PDAC has created a professional liability and business insurance
program as a service to its members. The program consists of two
packages. A Consultants Package provides professional liability and
business insurance coverage to members in the independent geological
consulting business, and an Explorers and Operators Package supplies
coverage to member companies, including junior exploration companies,
service and equipment providers, mine site developers and operating
mining companies. Both insurance packages can be customized to
accommodate specific professional and business needs. Insurance premiums
vary according to circumstances. However, the savings on this program
can be substantial. According to a consulting geologist, “The premium
for my errors and omissions insurance had been $4,833 for coverage of $2
million. I recently purchased insurance through the PDAC insurance
program and was able to get the same level of insurance coverage for a
premium of $1,620. Needless to say, I was very pleased.”
Click
here for more details about the program.
Assembly of First Nations
National Chief will speak in Toronto on October 12
Tickets are going fast for the Friday, October 12 luncheon when Assembly
of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine will address the mining
community. The topic of his presentation will be Progress through
partnerships: Exploring economic opportunities between First Nations and
the mineral industry. Tickets are $75 per person or $700 for a table of
ten. The luncheon will be held at the Arcadian Court, 401 Bay Street.
Click here for registration details.
Members’ views on Canada’s
securities regulatory regime invited
Just a reminder that the deadline for completing the PDAC’s survey on
Canada’s securities regulatory system is Monday, October 1. The survey,
which is being conducted through the auspices of Angus Reid, is designed
to assess members’ needs, interests, and perspectives on securities
regulation and related issues. Responses will be kept confidential.
Aggregate data collected through the survey will be used to provide
direction to the PDAC Securities Committee. To complete the survey,
which should take no more than 20 minutes, please
click here. As of Friday afternoon, September 28, there appears to
have been a large amount of interest in the survey with potential
respondents clicking through to it. However, this interest is not
reflected in the actual number of surveys completed. We’d like to know
the reason for this. If technical difficulties are stopping you from
completing it, would you please send an email to
Teresa Barrett. If
you began the survey before and didn’t finish it, can you let Teresa
know the reason. By the way, you still have a chance to participate.
Just go to this
link and start again. Your views are important to us.
Confidentiality agreements
should be carefully worded
Brian Abraham, Partner, Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP has written a
commentary on the recent Navidad decision respecting the nature of
confidentiality agreements. Mr. Abraham, who is a director of the
Association for Mineral Exploration BC, lists 17 factors that companies
should consider carefully in the preparation of confidentiality
agreements in light of this decision. He has agreed that his commentary,
which is available
here, be distributed to PDAC members.
The Barrick challenge: extract
silver from silica economically
Barrick Gold Corporation is offering US$10 million to anyone who can
solve a scientific conundrum: how to unlock the silver from the silica
that encapsulates it at the company’s Veladero gold mine in Argentina.
The company’s Unlock the Value program invites scientists, engineers and
conundrum solvers to propose an economically viable way to increase
silver recovery, currently at 6.7%, from the mine. Geologists have
determined there are 180 million ounces of silver contained in gold
reserves in the ore at the mine. The challenge is how to extract it
economically. Details of the challenge are
here.
Good luck!
Are members interested in
receiving CIM’s Exploration and Mining Geology?
We are trying to establish members’ interest in receiving a subscription
to Exploration and Mining Geology, a journal of applied geoscience
published quarterly by the Geological Society of the Canadian Institute
of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum. If there is sufficient interest,
the PDAC and the publishers are willing to make a permanent arrangement
whereby members receive a year’s subscription at a significantly reduced
rate. As a trial offer and for a limited period, members can subscribe
to the journal for $45 plus GST. This compares to the regular
subscription price of $140 per year. Please send an email to
Teresa Barrett,
indicating your interest in receiving the journal. Contents of recently
published issues are available
here. |
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