THUNDER BAY -- Ontario's prospecting stimulus package has invested $4 million of its $5-million target in the province's junior mining companies.
Minister of Northern Development and Mines Michael Gravelle announced the second round of the Junior Exploration Assistance Program's benefactors, releasing $1.2 million in the industry's tax burden spread across 15 companies.
Wednesday's announcement follows the first round of tax rebates awarded in May, in which Gravelle's ministry approved $2.7 million in rebates for 25 companies.
Gravelle declared many junior mining companies are committing to work beyond the 48 projects that are moving forward as a result of the tax relief the program provides.
"This in some cases enabling some of the companies that are under the greatest stress to keep going but in the case of Metals Creek Resources, for example, they're doing more exploration work than they would have been because of the availability of the Junior Exploration Assistance Program," he said.
"These are the most resilient businesses in Ontario. The mining sector is remarkable. They don't give up and it has been a really, really tough time so they're going to do what they can to keep going."
Metals Creek Resources Ltd. is a Thunder Bay-based junior mining company exploring mineral properties near Timmins and Sioux Narrows. Under the program, it will commit $300,000 to expanding its drilling operations Ogden project as well as $50,000 exploring land north of the Rainy River Gold Project to receive a 33 per cent rebate on its expenditures.
"We're just one drill hole away from a major discovery and that's pretty important in this business," said Metals Creek vice-president of exploration, Michael MacIsaac.
Based on promising trenching it has conducted in the West Cedartree Belt between Kenora and Fort Frances, MacIsaac hopes his company can reach the drilling stage with claims it has held since 2007. The challenge, he said, is in raising capital as the markets slowly rebound.
"They're putting an immense amount of money up there and there's a lot of gold," MacIsaac said.
"That area has been a hub of activity for exploration even back as far as the 1800s. There are old shafts and everything, there are gold shillings everywhere. So it's a matter of someone going in there, doing systematic work and following up."
Other companies qualifying for rebate funding include:
- Champagne Resources Ltd. (Kirkland Lake)
- Copper Lake Resources Ltd. (Greenstone)
- Churchill Diamond Corporation (Black River TB & Islington Lake TB)
- Fladgate ExplorationConsulting Corp. (Cobalt)
- Geofourtune Resources Corporation (Bridges/Docker Township)
- Golden Share Mining Corp ( North Trout Lake)
- Green Swan Capital Corp. (Sudbury)
- James Bay Midarctic Developments Inc. (Greenstone)
- Kapuskasing Gold Corp. (Timmins)
- Kesselrun Resources Ltd (Atikokan & Kenora)
- Metals Creek Resources Corp. (Thunder Bay)
- Red Pine Exploration Inc. (Wawa)
- Signature Resources Ltd. (Monument Bay)
- Sudbury Platinum Corp. (Sudbury)
- White Metal Resources Corp. (Pickle Lake)
