Flow-through passes $1b mark

This fall, the super flow-through share program reached a milestone.

In the previous four years, since October 2000, enhanced flow-through shares have raised more than $1 billion for grassroots exploration. These figures demonstrate the need to make the program permanent, says David Comba, director of regulatory affairs for the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC).

“The program has given a huge boost to the exploration industry,” he says. “Through ‘super’ flow-through shares and provincial government tax incentives, Canada has become the world’s largest mineral explorer.”

Between October 2000 and September 2003, “super” flow-through shares contributed to 68 mineral discoveries. Of these, 46% were gold, 37% were diamonds, and the remainder were nickel/copper/platinum-group-metals, copper/gold, and copper/zinc/lead.

This spring, the federal government extended the super flow-through share program by one year, extending the buy period for investors to Dec. 31, 2005. Now, the PDAC is lobbying to make the program permanent. The association is also urging that certain processes, such as community consultations, be declared eligible for the Canadian Exploration Expense.

The impact of flow-through shares is often referred to by mine developers. In September, Terry MacGibbon, president and CEO of FNX Mining, participated in the official opening of the Sudbury Joint Venture’s McCreedy West Mine in Ontario. (The Sudbury Joint Venture comprises FNX and Dynatec.) In his remarks, he praised the usefulness of the flow-through share program and gave two examples of discoveries that resulted from it: Podolsky 2000 and Podolsky North. The Sudbury Joint Venture has started sinking a ramp on Podolsky North, and a shaft on Podolsky 2000, MacGibbon said.

— The preceding is from In Brief, a quarterly publication of the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada.