Ontario mining companies have rushed in to take advantage of exploration grants provided under the recently amended Ontario Mineral Incentive Program (OMIP). Since the amendments took effect in September, applications for grants have more than doubled says Edward Solonyka, supervisor of incentives at the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and Mines in Sudbury, Ont.
As the $8 million set aside for the program has been fully subscribed and ministry officials are sitting with 40 additional applications, Solonyka will consider asking his provincial bosses for more money. This year, his department will approve over 130 applications while granting an average of $56,000 to successful applicants.
“We will brief Ontario Minister of Mines Gilles Pouliot in the near future and point out to him that we have had a good response,” said Solonyka during an interview with The Northern Miner.
He attributed the surging interest in OMIP to some recent changes that have broadened its scope and doubled the amount of assistance available to successful applicants to a maximum $300,000 from $150,000. Expanded to compensate for the loss of other vehicles including the Canadian Exploration Incentive Program, OMIP assistance is now available to producers as well as junior companies.
Under the amendment, projects financed by flow-through shares are eligible for assistance. So too are underground as well as surface drilling projects.
Northern Development also administers the Ontario Prospectors Assistance Program (OPAP) and approved 416 applications for the $4 million available under the program, according to Solonyka.
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