AWARDS

The committee selected six top international and domestic performers for the PDAC 2022 Awards. The recipients were recognized for their achievements and contributions to the mineral exploration and development community at the prestigious Awards Gala, held on June 14, during our Convention in Toronto. The award recipients were Charlie Greig for the Bill Dennis Award, Keith N. Spence for the Distinguished Service Award, Colin Webster for the Skookum Jim Award, Sabina Gold & Silver Corp. for the Sustainability Award, Rio Tinto Exploration for the Thayer Lindsley Award, and Lundin Gold Inc. for the Viola R. MacMillan Award. An article detailing each recipient was featured in The Globe and Mail’s “Investing in Mining Report” feature, as well as being showcased in CORE magazine’s Winter/ Spring 2022 issue.

The Awards Committee was also honoured to see their nominations – Maureen Jensen and Robert Quartermain – welcomed into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame in 2022 at the Induction Ceremony held on August 18, 2022, in Toronto.

Convention Planning

The committee’s main goals for the 2022 Convention were to successfully host PDAC’s first hybrid event (online and in-person), with a more diverse array of speakers and content. In the latter half of the year, the committee’s goals were to create a full programming agenda for PDAC 2023 that included attendee suggestions and interests following PDAC 2022.

PDAC 2022 was a highly successful event – made even more so as it was PDAC’s first time hosting in June. This event, held on PDAC’s 90th anniversary, won the Tourism Industry Association of Canada’s “Floor 13 Business Event Award”.

The committee is looking forward to continuing to develop a more diverse speaker lineup for 2023, as well as more global topics. As always, the focus will be to provide content that is closely aligned with current trends in our industry, and to proactively assist attendees to be informed from an educational, discourse and investment perspective.

FINANCE & TAXATION

A top goal for the Finance & Taxation Committee in 2022 was ensuring a successful launch of the Critical Minerals Exploration Tax Credit (CMETC), and to follow the implementation of it. In that context, PDAC has actively consulted with the federal government by providing commentary on draft legislation, suggestions for implementation and administration of the CMETC, and engaging with members on the program. The CMETC was launched successfully, and the final legislation reflected PDAC’s recommendations – which was the number one accomplishment of the committee.

Another topic of focus was the proposed amendments to the Investment Canada Act (ICA). The amendments may limit issuers with critical minerals projects from seeking some foreign capital, which could limit issuers’ investor base – and increase financing costs – as companies may need to look for alternative sources of financing. The Committee also worked to see the CEE Expenditure Review Table updated in 2022. This table provides significant guidance to member companies on the income tax treatment of their exploration and development expenses. Over the last few years, a working group of PDAC and the Association for Mineral Exploration (AME) collaborated with the CRA to address feedback from members related to the table’s guidance. In late 2022, a new table was published, addressing most of PDAC’s recommendations and member comments.

Looking ahead to 2023, the Finance & Taxation committee has several goals, including advocating for the renewal of the METC (which is set to expire in 2024), continuing to monitoring the rollout of the CMETC, continuing to address the issues related to ICA amendments, and proactively increasing the committee’s diversity.