I-0.4 - Mining Tax Act

Section 1 Disposition versions

2018-09-20

1. In this Act, unless the context indicates otherwise,

“amalgamation” means a merger of two or more legal persons (in this section referred to as “predecessor legal persons”) which are replaced to form one legal person (in this section referred to as the “new legal person”), with the following consequences:

(1)  all the property belonging to the predecessor legal persons immediately before the merger, except an amount receivable from a predecessor legal person or a share of the capital stock of such a legal person, becomes the property of the new legal person;

(2)  all the undertakings of the predecessor legal persons immediately before the merger, except an amount payable to a predecessor legal person, become the undertakings of the new legal person; and

(3)  all shareholders who owned a share of the capital stock of a predecessor legal person immediately before the merger, except the predecessor legal persons themselves, receive a share of the capital stock of the new legal person;

“assessment” means an assessment, a reassessment or an additional assessment;

“concentration” means any processing of ore or mine tailings to separate a mineral substance from its gangue and obtain a concentrate;

“eligible operator” for a fiscal year means an operator that

(1)  during the fiscal year, is not developing any mineral substance in reasonable commercial quantities; and

(2)  during the fiscal year, is not associated with an entity that develops a mineral substance in reasonable commercial quantities in the fiscal year;

“environmental trust” means an environmental trust, within the meaning of section 1129.51 of the Taxation Act (chapter I-3) that is resident in Québec for the purposes of Part III.12 of that Act;

“exploration” means all work in respect of which expenses referred to in subparagraph a of subparagraph 1 of the second paragraph of section 16.9 are incurred;

“Far North” means the territory of Québec north of 55°00′ north latitude;

“gemstone” means a diamond, emerald, ruby or sapphire;

“government assistance” means any direct or indirect assistance from a government, municipality or other public body, whether as a subsidy, premium, forgivable loan, tax deduction, advance, or as any other form of assistance other than assistance excluded by regulation of the Government;

“hydrometallurgy” means any processing of an ore or concentrate that produces a metal, metallic salt or metallic compound by carrying out a chemical reaction in an aqueous or organic solution;

“mine” means a place situated in Québec whose purpose is the extraction of mineral substances;

“mineral substance” means any natural mineral substance in solid form, including mine tailings;

“mining operation” means all work related to the various phases of mineral development, namely exploration, pre-production development, post-production development, the reclamation or rehabilitation of land situated in Québec, the extraction, processing, transportation, handling, storage and marketing of a mineral substance extracted from Québec soil, until its alienation or its use by the operator, and the processing of mine tailings from Québec, but does not include work;

(1)  performed for others;

(2)  (paragraph repealed);

(3)  carried out after 17 October 1990 in respect of surface mineral substances within the meaning assigned to that expression in section 1 of the Mining Act, or of mineral substances the rights in or over which have been surrendered to the owner of the soil under section 5 of that Act;

“Near North” means the territory of Québec situated north of the 49th degree of north latitude and north of the St. Lawrence River and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and south of the 55th degree of north latitude;

“northern mine” means a mine, within the meaning assigned to that expression by this section on 30 March 2010, situated north of 55°00′ north latitude;

“Northern Québec” means the territory of Québec formed by the Near North and the Far North;

“operator” means a person or partnership, other than a joint venture, that performs mining operation work, either alone or with others, or through a mandatary, on land situated in Québec or in a mine the person or partnership owns, leases or occupies;

“ore” means a mineral substance that may be extracted for the purpose of obtaining a commercial product;

“post-production development” means all work in respect of which expenses referred to in subparagraph a of subparagraph 1 of the second paragraph of section 16.13 are incurred;

“pre-production development” means all work in respect of which expenses referred to in subparagraph a of subparagraph 1 of the second paragraph of section 16.11 are incurred;

“processing” means any activity involving the concentration, smelting or refining of a mineral substance or any hydrometallurgy activity, including any activity involving pelletization, production of powder, production of steel billets or any other prescribed activity;

“processing asset” means property to which any of sections 10, 10.1.1, 10.9 and 10.11 apply, situated in Québec, that is

(1)  a processing plant;

(2)  equipment used entirely or almost entirely for processing;

(3)  property used mainly to supply water or energy to a processing plant;

(4)  (paragraph repealed);

(5)  property used entirely or almost entirely for the handling or transportation of a mineral substance within a processing plant; or

(6)  property used entirely or almost entirely for the handling or transportation of mine tailings emanating directly from a processing plant, to a mine tailings site or mine tailings heap;

but does not include

(7)  property used during an activity preliminary to primary crushing;

(8)  property used for the primary crushing of a mineral substance;

(9)  subject to paragraphs 5 and 6, property used for the transportation, handling, storage or marketing of a mineral substance;

(10)  property used for the transportation of solid, liquid or gas fuel;

(11)  subject to paragraph 6, property used in the operation of a mine tailings site or mine tailings heap, from the first deposit of tailings in an area laid out for that purpose; or

(12)  subject to paragraph 3, service property;

“processing plant” means the whole or part of a building in which the processing of a mineral substance is carried out and which is used solely for that purpose;

“processing product” means a product, by-product or derivative obtained as a result of the processing of a mineral substance;

“refining” means any processing of a product from a smelting or concentration operation to remove impurities, which produces very high grade metal;

“service property” means property, other than a railroad not situated at the mine, acquired for the purpose of realizing or producing income from a mine and of providing services to the mine or to a townsite in which a large proportion of persons who ordinarily work in the mine reside, if the property is

(1)  an airport, dam, basin, fire station, natural gas pipeline, energy transmission line, wastewater treatment plant, sewer, street lighting network, water main, water pumping station, water supply network, wharf, or similar property;

(2)  a road, sidewalk, runway, parking lot, storage area, or similar surface construction;

(3)  a machine or material accessory to property referred to in paragraph 1 or 2;

“smelting” means any processing of an ore or concentrate wherein the charge is melted and chemically converted to produce a slag and a matte or metal containing impurities;

“tax rate” applicable to an operator for a fiscal year that begins before 1 January 2014 means the rate determined for the fiscal year by the formula

A + B + C + D.

For the purposes of the definition of “amalgamation” in the first paragraph,

(1)  the acquisition of property of one legal person by another legal person or the distribution of property of a legal person being wound up to another legal person does not result in an amalgamation; and

(2)  for the purposes of paragraph 3 of that definition, when there is a merger of a legal person and one or more of its wholly-controlled subsidiaries or of two or more legal persons each of which is a wholly-controlled subsidiary of the same legal person, any share of the capital stock of a predecessor legal person owned by a shareholder, except a predecessor legal person, immediately before the merger that was not cancelled on the merger is deemed to be a share of the capital stock of the new legal person received by the shareholder as a result of the merger in consideration for the disposition of a share of the capital stock of the predecessor legal person.

For the purposes of subparagraph 2 of the second paragraph, a “wholly-controlled subsidiary” of a particular person means a legal person all of the issued and outstanding shares of the capital stock of which are owned

(1)  by the particular person;

(2)  by a legal person that is a wholly-controlled subsidiary of the particular person; or

(3)  by two or more persons each of which is a person described in paragraph 1 or 2.

In the formula in the definition of “tax rate” in the first paragraph,

(1)  A is the rate obtained by multiplying 12% by the proportion that the number of days in the fiscal year that precede 31 March 2010 is of the number of days in the fiscal year;

(2)  B is the rate obtained by multiplying 14% by the proportion that the number of days in the fiscal year that follow 30 March 2010 and precede 1 January 2011 is of the number of days in the fiscal year;

(3)  C is the rate obtained by multiplying 15% by the proportion that the number of days in the fiscal year that follow 31 December 2010 and precede 1 January 2012 is of the number of days in the fiscal year; and

(4)  D is the rate obtained by multiplying 16% by the proportion that the number of days in the fiscal year that follow 31 December 2011 is of the number of days in the fiscal year.

1975, c. 30, s. 1; 1985, c. 39, s. 1; 1987, c. 64, s. 334; 1994, c. 47, s. 1; 1996, c. 4, s. 1; 1996, c. 39, s. 2; 1997, c. 85, s. 18; 1999, c. 83, s. 4; 2000, c. 5, s. 1; 2001, c. 51, s. 1; 2002, c. 40, s. 13; 2003, c. 8, s. 6; 2006, c. 3, s. 35; 2011, c. 6, s. 16; 2015, c. 8, s. 43; 2015, c. 21, s. 38; 2017, c. 29, s. 12; 2016, c. 35, s. 23.

2017-12-07

1. In this Act, unless the context indicates otherwise,

“amalgamation” means a merger of two or more legal persons (in this section referred to as “predecessor legal persons”) which are replaced to form one legal person (in this section referred to as the “new legal person”), with the following consequences:

(1)  all the property belonging to the predecessor legal persons immediately before the merger, except an amount receivable from a predecessor legal person or a share of the capital stock of such a legal person, becomes the property of the new legal person;

(2)  all the undertakings of the predecessor legal persons immediately before the merger, except an amount payable to a predecessor legal person, become the undertakings of the new legal person; and

(3)  all shareholders who owned a share of the capital stock of a predecessor legal person immediately before the merger, except the predecessor legal persons themselves, receive a share of the capital stock of the new legal person;

“assessment” means an assessment, a reassessment or an additional assessment;

“concentration” means any processing of ore or mine tailings to separate a mineral substance from its gangue and obtain a concentrate;

“eligible operator” for a fiscal year means an operator that

(1)  during the fiscal year, is not developing any mineral substance in reasonable commercial quantities; and

(2)  during the fiscal year, is not associated with an entity that develops a mineral substance in reasonable commercial quantities in the fiscal year;

“environmental trust” means an environmental trust, within the meaning of section 1129.51 of the Taxation Act (chapter I-3) that is resident in Québec for the purposes of Part III.12 of that Act;

“exploration” means all work in respect of which expenses referred to in subparagraph a of subparagraph 1 of the second paragraph of section 16.9 are incurred;

“Far North” means the territory of Québec north of 55°00′ north latitude;

“gemstone” means a diamond, emerald, ruby or sapphire;

“government assistance” means any direct or indirect assistance from a government, municipality or other public body, whether as a subsidy, premium, forgivable loan, tax deduction, advance, or as any other form of assistance other than assistance excluded by regulation of the Government;

“hydrometallurgy” means any processing of an ore or concentrate that produces a metal, metallic salt or metallic compound by carrying out a chemical reaction in an aqueous or organic solution;

“mine” means a place situated in Québec whose purpose is the extraction of mineral substances;

“mineral substance” means any natural mineral substance, whether solid, gaseous or liquid, except water, and includes a fossilized organic substance or mine tailings, but does not include a mineral substance the well head value of which is subject to the royalty referred to in section 204 of the Mining Act (chapter M‐13.1);

“mining operation” means all work related to the various phases of mineral development, namely exploration, pre-production development, post-production development, the reclamation or rehabilitation of land situated in Québec, the extraction, processing, transportation, handling, storage and marketing of a mineral substance extracted from Québec soil, until its alienation or its use by the operator, and the processing of mine tailings from Québec, but does not include work;

(1)  performed for others;

(2)  (paragraph repealed);

(3)  carried out after 17 October 1990 in respect of surface mineral substances within the meaning assigned to that expression in section 1 of the Mining Act, or of mineral substances the rights in or over which have been surrendered to the owner of the soil under section 5 of that Act;

“Near North” means the territory of Québec situated north of the 49th degree of north latitude and north of the St. Lawrence River and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and south of the 55th degree of north latitude;

“northern mine” means a mine, within the meaning assigned to that expression by this section on 30 March 2010, situated north of 55°00′ north latitude;

“Northern Québec” means the territory of Québec formed by the Near North and the Far North;

“operator” means a person or partnership, other than a joint venture, that performs mining operation work, either alone or with others, or through a mandatary, on land situated in Québec or in a mine the person or partnership owns, leases or occupies;

“ore” means a mineral substance that may be extracted for the purpose of obtaining a commercial product;

“post-production development” means all work in respect of which expenses referred to in subparagraph a of subparagraph 1 of the second paragraph of section 16.13 are incurred;

“pre-production development” means all work in respect of which expenses referred to in subparagraph a of subparagraph 1 of the second paragraph of section 16.11 are incurred;

“processing” means any activity involving the concentration, smelting or refining of a mineral substance or any hydrometallurgy activity, including any activity involving pelletization, production of powder, production of steel billets or any other prescribed activity;

“processing asset” means property to which any of sections 10, 10.1.1, 10.9 and 10.11 apply, situated in Québec, that is

(1)  a processing plant;

(2)  equipment used entirely or almost entirely for processing;

(3)  property used mainly to supply water or energy to a processing plant;

(4)  (paragraph repealed);

(5)  property used entirely or almost entirely for the handling or transportation of a mineral substance within a processing plant; or

(6)  property used entirely or almost entirely for the handling or transportation of mine tailings emanating directly from a processing plant, to a mine tailings site or mine tailings heap;

but does not include

(7)  property used during an activity preliminary to primary crushing;

(8)  property used for the primary crushing of a mineral substance;

(9)  subject to paragraphs 5 and 6, property used for the transportation, handling, storage or marketing of a mineral substance;

(10)  property used for the transportation of solid, liquid or gas fuel;

(11)  subject to paragraph 6, property used in the operation of a mine tailings site or mine tailings heap, from the first deposit of tailings in an area laid out for that purpose; or

(12)  subject to paragraph 3, service property;

“processing plant” means the whole or part of a building in which the processing of a mineral substance is carried out and which is used solely for that purpose;

“processing product” means a product, by-product or derivative obtained as a result of the processing of a mineral substance;

“refining” means any processing of a product from a smelting or concentration operation to remove impurities, which produces very high grade metal;

“service property” means property, other than a railroad not situated at the mine, acquired for the purpose of realizing or producing income from a mine and of providing services to the mine or to a townsite in which a large proportion of persons who ordinarily work in the mine reside, if the property is

(1)  an airport, dam, basin, fire station, natural gas pipeline, energy transmission line, wastewater treatment plant, sewer, street lighting network, water main, water pumping station, water supply network, wharf, or similar property;

(2)  a road, sidewalk, runway, parking lot, storage area, or similar surface construction;

(3)  a machine or material accessory to property referred to in paragraph 1 or 2;

“smelting” means any processing of an ore or concentrate wherein the charge is melted and chemically converted to produce a slag and a matte or metal containing impurities;

“tax rate” applicable to an operator for a fiscal year that begins before 1 January 2014 means the rate determined for the fiscal year by the formula

A + B + C + D.

For the purposes of the definition of “amalgamation” in the first paragraph,

(1)  the acquisition of property of one legal person by another legal person or the distribution of property of a legal person being wound up to another legal person does not result in an amalgamation; and

(2)  for the purposes of paragraph 3 of that definition, when there is a merger of a legal person and one or more of its wholly-controlled subsidiaries or of two or more legal persons each of which is a wholly-controlled subsidiary of the same legal person, any share of the capital stock of a predecessor legal person owned by a shareholder, except a predecessor legal person, immediately before the merger that was not cancelled on the merger is deemed to be a share of the capital stock of the new legal person received by the shareholder as a result of the merger in consideration for the disposition of a share of the capital stock of the predecessor legal person.

For the purposes of subparagraph 2 of the second paragraph, a “wholly-controlled subsidiary” of a particular person means a legal person all of the issued and outstanding shares of the capital stock of which are owned

(1)  by the particular person;

(2)  by a legal person that is a wholly-controlled subsidiary of the particular person; or

(3)  by two or more persons each of which is a person described in paragraph 1 or 2.

In the formula in the definition of “tax rate” in the first paragraph,

(1)  A is the rate obtained by multiplying 12% by the proportion that the number of days in the fiscal year that precede 31 March 2010 is of the number of days in the fiscal year;

(2)  B is the rate obtained by multiplying 14% by the proportion that the number of days in the fiscal year that follow 30 March 2010 and precede 1 January 2011 is of the number of days in the fiscal year;

(3)  C is the rate obtained by multiplying 15% by the proportion that the number of days in the fiscal year that follow 31 December 2010 and precede 1 January 2012 is of the number of days in the fiscal year; and

(4)  D is the rate obtained by multiplying 16% by the proportion that the number of days in the fiscal year that follow 31 December 2011 is of the number of days in the fiscal year.

1975, c. 30, s. 1; 1985, c. 39, s. 1; 1987, c. 64, s. 334; 1994, c. 47, s. 1; 1996, c. 4, s. 1; 1996, c. 39, s. 2; 1997, c. 85, s. 18; 1999, c. 83, s. 4; 2000, c. 5, s. 1; 2001, c. 51, s. 1; 2002, c. 40, s. 13; 2003, c. 8, s. 6; 2006, c. 3, s. 35; 2011, c. 6, s. 16; 2015, c. 8, s. 43; 2015, c. 21, s. 38; 2017, c. 29, s. 12.

2015-10-21

1. In this Act, unless the context indicates otherwise,

“amalgamation” means a merger of two or more legal persons (in this section referred to as “predecessor legal persons”) which are replaced to form one legal person (in this section referred to as the “new legal person”), with the following consequences:

(1)  all the property belonging to the predecessor legal persons immediately before the merger, except an amount receivable from a predecessor legal person or a share of the capital stock of such a legal person, becomes the property of the new legal person;

(2)  all the undertakings of the predecessor legal persons immediately before the merger, except an amount payable to a predecessor legal person, become the undertakings of the new legal person; and

(3)  all shareholders who owned a share of the capital stock of a predecessor legal person immediately before the merger, except the predecessor legal persons themselves, receive a share of the capital stock of the new legal person;

“assessment” means an assessment, a reassessment or an additional assessment;

“concentration” means any processing of ore or mine tailings to separate a mineral substance from its gangue and obtain a concentrate;

“eligible operator” for a fiscal year means an operator that

(1)  is not developing any mineral substance in reasonable commercial quantities at the end of the fiscal year; and

(2)  during the fiscal year, is not associated with an entity that develops a mineral substance in reasonable commercial quantities in the fiscal year;

“environmental trust” means an environmental trust, within the meaning of section 1129.51 of the Taxation Act (chapter I-3) that is resident in Québec for the purposes of Part III.12 of that Act;

“exploration” means all work in respect of which expenses referred to in subparagraph a of subparagraph 1 of the second paragraph of section 16.9 are incurred;

“Far North” means the territory of Québec north of 55°00′ north latitude;

“gemstone” means a diamond, emerald, ruby or sapphire;

“government assistance” means any direct or indirect assistance from a government, municipality or other public body, whether as a subsidy, premium, forgivable loan, tax deduction, advance, or as any other form of assistance other than assistance excluded by regulation of the Government;

“hydrometallurgy” means any processing of an ore or concentrate that produces a metal, metallic salt or metallic compound by carrying out a chemical reaction in an aqueous or organic solution;

“mine” means a place situated in Québec whose purpose is the extraction of mineral substances;

“mineral substance” means any natural mineral substance, whether solid, gaseous or liquid, except water, and includes a fossilized organic substance or mine tailings, but does not include a mineral substance the well head value of which is subject to the royalty referred to in section 204 of the Mining Act (chapter M‐13.1);

“mining operation” means all work related to the various phases of mineral development, namely exploration, pre-production development, post-production development, the reclamation or rehabilitation of land situated in Québec, the extraction, processing, transportation, handling, storage and marketing of a mineral substance extracted from Québec soil, until its alienation or its use by the operator, and the processing of mine tailings from Québec, but does not include work;

(1)  performed for others;

(2)  (paragraph repealed);

(3)  carried out after 17 October 1990 in respect of surface mineral substances within the meaning assigned to that expression in section 1 of the Mining Act, or of mineral substances the rights in or over which have been surrendered to the owner of the soil under section 5 of that Act;

“Near North” means the territory of Québec between 50°30′ north latitude and 55°00′ north latitude and bounded on the east by the Grenville Front and the part of the territory of the Côte-Nord administrative region (09), described in the Décret concernant la révision des limites des régions administratives du Québec (chapter D-11, r. 1), situated between 59°00′ west longitude and 66°00′ west longitude;

“northern mine” means a mine, within the meaning assigned to that expression by this section on 30 March 2010, situated north of 55°00′ north latitude;

“Northern Québec” means the territory of Québec formed by the Near North and the Far North;

“operator” means a person or partnership, other than a joint venture, that performs mining operation work, either alone or with others, or through a mandatary, on land situated in Québec or in a mine the person or partnership owns, leases or occupies;

“ore” means a mineral substance that may be extracted for the purpose of obtaining a commercial product;

“post-production development” means all work in respect of which expenses referred to in subparagraph a of subparagraph 1 of the second paragraph of section 16.13 are incurred;

“pre-production development” means all work in respect of which expenses referred to in subparagraph a of subparagraph 1 of the second paragraph of section 16.11 are incurred;

“processing” means any activity involving the concentration, smelting or refining of a mineral substance or any hydrometallurgy activity, including any activity involving pelletization, production of powder, production of steel billets or any other prescribed activity;

“processing asset” means property to which any of sections 10, 10.1.1, 10.9 and 10.11 apply, situated in Québec, that is

(1)  a processing plant;

(2)  equipment used entirely or almost entirely for processing;

(3)  property used mainly to supply water or energy to a processing plant;

(4)  (paragraph repealed);

(5)  property used entirely or almost entirely for the handling or transportation of a mineral substance within a processing plant; or

(6)  property used entirely or almost entirely for the handling or transportation of mine tailings emanating directly from a processing plant, to a mine tailings site or mine tailings heap;

but does not include

(7)  property used during an activity preliminary to primary crushing;

(8)  property used for the primary crushing of a mineral substance;

(9)  subject to paragraphs 5 and 6, property used for the transportation, handling, storage or marketing of a mineral substance;

(10)  property used for the transportation of solid, liquid or gas fuel;

(11)  subject to paragraph 6, property used in the operation of a mine tailings site or mine tailings heap, from the first deposit of tailings in an area laid out for that purpose; or

(12)  subject to paragraph 3, service property;

“processing plant” means the whole or part of a building in which the processing of a mineral substance is carried out and which is used solely for that purpose;

“processing product” means a product, by-product or derivative obtained as a result of the processing of a mineral substance;

“refining” means any processing of a product from a smelting or concentration operation to remove impurities, which produces very high grade metal;

“service property” means property, other than a railroad not situated at the mine, acquired for the purpose of realizing or producing income from a mine and of providing services to the mine or to a townsite in which a large proportion of persons who ordinarily work in the mine reside, if the property is

(1)  an airport, dam, basin, fire station, natural gas pipeline, energy transmission line, wastewater treatment plant, sewer, street lighting network, water main, water pumping station, water supply network, wharf, or similar property;

(2)  a road, sidewalk, runway, parking lot, storage area, or similar surface construction;

(3)  a machine or material accessory to property referred to in paragraph 1 or 2;

“smelting” means any processing of an ore or concentrate wherein the charge is melted and chemically converted to produce a slag and a matte or metal containing impurities;

“tax rate” applicable to an operator for a fiscal year that begins before 1 January 2014 means the rate determined for the fiscal year by the formula

A + B + C + D.

For the purposes of the definition of “amalgamation” in the first paragraph,

(1)  the acquisition of property of one legal person by another legal person or the distribution of property of a legal person being wound up to another legal person does not result in an amalgamation; and

(2)  for the purposes of paragraph 3 of that definition, when there is a merger of a legal person and one or more of its wholly-controlled subsidiaries or of two or more legal persons each of which is a wholly-controlled subsidiary of the same legal person, any share of the capital stock of a predecessor legal person owned by a shareholder, except a predecessor legal person, immediately before the merger that was not cancelled on the merger is deemed to be a share of the capital stock of the new legal person received by the shareholder as a result of the merger in consideration for the disposition of a share of the capital stock of the predecessor legal person.

For the purposes of subparagraph 2 of the second paragraph, a “wholly-controlled subsidiary” of a particular person means a legal person all of the issued and outstanding shares of the capital stock of which are owned

(1)  by the particular person;

(2)  by a legal person that is a wholly-controlled subsidiary of the particular person; or

(3)  by two or more persons each of which is a person described in paragraph 1 or 2.

In the formula in the definition of “tax rate” in the first paragraph,

(1)  A is the rate obtained by multiplying 12% by the proportion that the number of days in the fiscal year that precede 31 March 2010 is of the number of days in the fiscal year;

(2)  B is the rate obtained by multiplying 14% by the proportion that the number of days in the fiscal year that follow 30 March 2010 and precede 1 January 2011 is of the number of days in the fiscal year;

(3)  C is the rate obtained by multiplying 15% by the proportion that the number of days in the fiscal year that follow 31 December 2010 and precede 1 January 2012 is of the number of days in the fiscal year; and

(4)  D is the rate obtained by multiplying 16% by the proportion that the number of days in the fiscal year that follow 31 December 2011 is of the number of days in the fiscal year.

1975, c. 30, s. 1; 1985, c. 39, s. 1; 1987, c. 64, s. 334; 1994, c. 47, s. 1; 1996, c. 4, s. 1; 1996, c. 39, s. 2; 1997, c. 85, s. 18; 1999, c. 83, s. 4; 2000, c. 5, s. 1; 2001, c. 51, s. 1; 2002, c. 40, s. 13; 2003, c. 8, s. 6; 2006, c. 3, s. 35; 2011, c. 6, s. 16; 2015, c. 8, s. 43; 2015, c. 21, s. 38.

2015-09-01

1. In this Act, unless the context indicates otherwise,

“amalgamation” means a merger of two or more legal persons (in this section referred to as “predecessor legal persons”) which are replaced to form one legal person (in this section referred to as the “new legal person”), with the following consequences:

(1)  all the property belonging to the predecessor legal persons immediately before the merger, except an amount receivable from a predecessor legal person or a share of the capital stock of such a legal person, becomes the property of the new legal person;

(2)  all the undertakings of the predecessor legal persons immediately before the merger, except an amount payable to a predecessor legal person, become the undertakings of the new legal person; and

(3)  all shareholders who owned a share of the capital stock of a predecessor legal person immediately before the merger, except the predecessor legal persons themselves, receive a share of the capital stock of the new legal person;

“assessment” means an assessment, a reassessment or an additional assessment;

“concentration” means any processing of ore or mine tailings to separate a mineral substance from its gangue and obtain a concentrate;

“eligible operator” for a fiscal year means an operator that

(1)  is not developing any mineral substance in reasonable commercial quantities at the end of the fiscal year; and

(2)  during the fiscal year, is not associated with an entity that develops a mineral substance in reasonable commercial quantities in the fiscal year;

“environmental trust” means an environmental trust, within the meaning of section 21.40 of the Taxation Act (chapter I‐3) that is resident in Québec for the purposes of Part I of that Act;

“exploration” means all work in respect of which expenses referred to in subparagraph a of subparagraph 1 of the second paragraph of section 16.9 are incurred;

“Far North” means the territory of Québec north of 55°00′ north latitude;

“gemstone” means a diamond, emerald, ruby or sapphire;

“government assistance” means any direct or indirect assistance from a government, municipality or other public body, whether as a subsidy, premium, forgivable loan, tax deduction, advance, or as any other form of assistance other than assistance excluded by regulation of the Government;

“mine” means a place situated in Québec whose purpose is the extraction of mineral substances;

“mineral substance” means any natural mineral substance, whether solid, gaseous or liquid, except water, and includes a fossilized organic substance or mine tailings, but does not include a mineral substance the well head value of which is subject to the royalty referred to in section 204 of the Mining Act (chapter M‐13.1);

“mining operation” means all work related to the various phases of mineral development, namely exploration, pre-production development, post-production development, the reclamation or rehabilitation of land situated in Québec, the extraction, processing, transportation, handling, storage and marketing of a mineral substance extracted from Québec soil, until its alienation or its use by the operator, and the processing of mine tailings from Québec, but does not include work;

(1)  performed for others;

(2)  (paragraph repealed);

(3)  carried out after 17 October 1990 in respect of surface mineral substances within the meaning assigned to that expression in section 1 of the Mining Act, or of mineral substances the rights in or over which have been surrendered to the owner of the soil under section 5 of that Act;

“Near North” means the territory of Québec between 50°30′ north latitude and 55°00′ north latitude and bounded on the east by the Grenville Front and the part of the territory of the Lower North Shore situated between 59°00′ west longitude and 66°00′ west longitude;

“northern mine” means a mine, within the meaning assigned to that expression by this section on 30 March 2010, situated north of 55°00′ north latitude;

“Northern Québec” means the territory of Québec formed by the Near North and the Far North;

“operator” means a person or partnership, other than a joint venture, that performs mining operation work, either alone or with others, or through a mandatary, on land situated in Québec or in a mine the person or partnership owns, leases or occupies;

“ore” means a mineral substance that may be extracted for the purpose of obtaining a commercial product;

“post-production development” means all work in respect of which expenses referred to in subparagraph a of subparagraph 1 of the second paragraph of section 16.13 are incurred;

“pre-production development” means all work in respect of which expenses referred to in subparagraph a of subparagraph 1 of the second paragraph of section 16.11 are incurred;

“processing” means any activity involving the concentration, smelting or refining of a mineral substance and includes any activity involving pelletization, the production of powder or the production of steel billets, or any other prescribed activity;

“processing asset” means property to which section 10 applies, situated in Québec, that is

(1)  a processing plant;

(2)  equipment used entirely or almost entirely for processing;

(3)  property used mainly to supply water or energy to a processing plant;

(4)  (paragraph repealed);

(5)  property used entirely or almost entirely for the handling or transportation of a mineral substance within a processing plant; or

(6)  property used entirely or almost entirely for the handling or transportation of mine tailings emanating directly from a processing plant, to a mine tailings site or mine tailings heap;

but does not include

(7)  property used during an activity preliminary to primary crushing;

(8)  property used for the primary crushing of a mineral substance;

(9)  subject to paragraphs 5 and 6, property used for the transportation, handling, storage or marketing of a mineral substance;

(10)  property used for the transportation of solid, liquid or gas fuel;

(11)  subject to paragraph 6, property used in the operation of a mine tailings site or mine tailings heap, from the first deposit of tailings in an area laid out for that purpose; or

(12)  subject to paragraph 3, service property;

“processing plant” means the whole or part of a building in which the processing of a mineral substance is carried out and which is used solely for that purpose;

“processing product” means a product, by-product or derivative obtained as a result of the processing of a mineral substance;

“refining” means any processing of a product from a smelting or concentration operation to remove impurities, which produces very high grade metal;

“service property” means property, other than a railroad not situated at the mine, acquired for the purpose of realizing or producing income from a mine and of providing services to the mine or to a townsite in which a large proportion of persons who ordinarily work in the mine reside, if the property is

(1)  an airport, dam, basin, fire station, natural gas pipeline, energy transmission line, wastewater treatment plant, sewer, street lighting network, water main, water pumping station, water supply network, wharf, or similar property;

(2)  a road, sidewalk, runway, parking lot, storage area, or similar surface construction;

(3)  a machine or material accessory to property referred to in paragraph 1 or 2;

“smelting” means any processing of an ore or concentrate wherein the charge is melted and chemically converted to produce a slag and a matte or metal containing impurities;

“tax rate” applicable to an operator for a fiscal year means the rate determined for the fiscal year by the formula

A + B + C + D.

For the purposes of the definition of “amalgamation” in the first paragraph,

(1)  the acquisition of property of one legal person by another legal person or the distribution of property of a legal person being wound up to another legal person does not result in an amalgamation; and

(2)  for the purposes of paragraph 3 of that definition, when there is a merger of a legal person and one or more of its wholly-controlled subsidiaries or of two or more legal persons each of which is a wholly-controlled subsidiary of the same legal person, any share of the capital stock of a predecessor legal person owned by a shareholder, except a predecessor legal person, immediately before the merger that was not cancelled on the merger is deemed to be a share of the capital stock of the new legal person received by the shareholder as a result of the merger in consideration for the disposition of a share of the capital stock of the predecessor legal person.

For the purposes of subparagraph 2 of the second paragraph, a “wholly-controlled subsidiary” of a particular person means a legal person all of the issued and outstanding shares of the capital stock of which are owned

(1)  by the particular person;

(2)  by a legal person that is a wholly-controlled subsidiary of the particular person; or

(3)  by two or more persons each of which is a person described in paragraph 1 or 2.

In the formula in the definition of “tax rate” in the first paragraph,

(1)  A is the rate obtained by multiplying 12% by the proportion that the number of days in the fiscal year that precede 31 March 2010 is of the number of days in the fiscal year;

(2)  B is the rate obtained by multiplying 14% by the proportion that the number of days in the fiscal year that follow 30 March 2010 and precede 1 January 2011 is of the number of days in the fiscal year;

(3)  C is the rate obtained by multiplying 15% by the proportion that the number of days in the fiscal year that follow 31 December 2010 and precede 1 January 2012 is of the number of days in the fiscal year; and

(4)  D is the rate obtained by multiplying 16% by the proportion that the number of days in the fiscal year that follow 31 December 2011 is of the number of days in the fiscal year.

1975, c. 30, s. 1; 1985, c. 39, s. 1; 1987, c. 64, s. 334; 1994, c. 47, s. 1; 1996, c. 4, s. 1; 1996, c. 39, s. 2; 1997, c. 85, s. 18; 1999, c. 83, s. 4; 2000, c. 5, s. 1; 2001, c. 51, s. 1; 2002, c. 40, s. 13; 2003, c. 8, s. 6; 2006, c. 3, s. 35; 2011, c. 6, s. 16; 2015, c. 8, s. 43.

2011-06-06

1. In this Act, unless the context indicates otherwise,

“amalgamation” means a merger of two or more legal persons (in this section referred to as “predecessor legal persons”) which are replaced to form one legal person (in this section referred to as the “new legal person”), with the following consequences:

(1)  all the property belonging to the predecessor legal persons immediately before the merger, except an amount receivable from a predecessor legal person or a share of the capital stock of such a legal person, becomes the property of the new legal person;

(2)  all the undertakings of the predecessor legal persons immediately before the merger, except an amount payable to a predecessor legal person, become the undertakings of the new legal person; and

(3)  all shareholders who owned a share of the capital stock of a predecessor legal person immediately before the merger, except the predecessor legal persons themselves, receive a share of the capital stock of the new legal person;

“assessment” means an assessment, a reassessment or an additional assessment;

“concentration” means any processing of ore or mine tailings to separate a mineral substance from its gangue and obtain a concentrate;

“eligible operator” for a fiscal year means an operator that

(1)  is not developing any mineral substance in reasonable commercial quantities at the end of the fiscal year; and

(2)  during the fiscal year, is not associated with an entity that develops a mineral substance in reasonable commercial quantities in the fiscal year;

“environmental trust” means an environmental trust, within the meaning of section 21.40 of the Taxation Act (chapter I‐3) that is resident in Québec for the purposes of Part I of that Act;

“exploration” means all work in respect of which expenses referred to in subparagraph a of subparagraph 1 of the second paragraph of section 16.9 are incurred;

“Far North” means the territory of Québec north of 55°00′ north latitude;

“gemstone” means a diamond, emerald, ruby or sapphire;

“government assistance” means any direct or indirect assistance from a government, municipality or other public body, whether as a subsidy, premium, forgivable loan, tax deduction, advance, or as any other form of assistance other than assistance excluded by regulation of the Government;

“mine” means a place situated in Québec whose purpose is the extraction of mineral substances;

“mineral substance” means any natural mineral substance, whether solid, gaseous or liquid, except water, and includes a fossilized organic substance or mine tailings, but does not include a mineral substance the well head value of which is subject to the royalty referred to in section 204 of the Mining Act (chapter M‐13.1);

“mining operation” means all work related to the various phases of mineral development, namely exploration, pre-production development, post-production development, the reclamation or rehabilitation of land situated in Québec, the extraction, processing, transportation, handling, storage and marketing of a mineral substance extracted from Québec soil, until its alienation or its use by the operator, and the processing of mine tailings from Québec, but does not include work;

(1)  performed for others;

(2)  (paragraph repealed);

(3)  carried out after 17 October 1990 in respect of surface mineral substances within the meaning assigned to that expression in section 1 of the Mining Act, or of mineral substances the rights in or over which have been surrendered to the owner of the soil under section 5 of that Act;

“Minister” means the Minister of Natural Resources and Wildlife;

“Near North” means the territory of Québec between 50°30′ north latitude and 55°00′ north latitude and bounded on the east by the Grenville Front and the part of the territory of the Lower North Shore situated between 59°00′ west longitude and 66°00′ west longitude;

“northern mine” means a mine, within the meaning assigned to that expression by this section on 30 March 2010, situated north of 55°00′ north latitude;

“Northern Québec” means the territory of Québec formed by the Near North and the Far North;

“operator” means a person or partnership, other than a joint venture, that performs mining operation work, either alone or with others, or through a mandatary, on land situated in Québec or in a mine the person or partnership owns, leases or occupies;

“ore” means a mineral substance that may be extracted for the purpose of obtaining a commercial product;

“post-production development” means all work in respect of which expenses referred to in subparagraph a of subparagraph 1 of the second paragraph of section 16.13 are incurred;

“pre-production development” means all work in respect of which expenses referred to in subparagraph a of subparagraph 1 of the second paragraph of section 16.11 are incurred;

“processing” means any activity involving the concentration, smelting or refining of a mineral substance and includes any activity involving pelletization, the production of powder or the production of steel billets, or any other activity prescribed by regulation;

“processing asset” means property to which section 10 applies, situated in Québec, that is

(1)  a processing plant;

(2)  equipment used entirely or almost entirely for processing;

(3)  property used mainly to supply water or energy to a processing plant;

(4)  (paragraph repealed);

(5)  property used entirely or almost entirely for the handling or transportation of a mineral substance within a processing plant; or

(6)  property used entirely or almost entirely for the handling or transportation of mine tailings emanating directly from a processing plant, to a mine tailings site or mine tailings heap;

but does not include

(7)  property used during an activity preliminary to primary crushing;

(8)  property used for the primary crushing of a mineral substance;

(9)  subject to paragraphs 5 and 6, property used for the transportation, handling, storage or marketing of a mineral substance;

(10)  property used for the transportation of solid, liquid or gas fuel;

(11)  subject to paragraph 6, property used in the operation of a mine tailings site or mine tailings heap, from the first deposit of tailings in an area laid out for that purpose; or

(12)  subject to paragraph 3, service property;

“processing plant” means the whole or part of a building in which the processing of a mineral substance is carried out and which is used solely for that purpose;

“processing product” means a product, by-product or derivative obtained as a result of the processing of a mineral substance;

“refining” means any processing of a product from a smelting or concentration operation to remove impurities, which produces very high grade metal;

“service property” means property, other than a railroad not situated at the mine, acquired for the purpose of realizing or producing income from a mine and of providing services to the mine or to a townsite in which a large proportion of persons who ordinarily work in the mine reside, if the property is

(1)  an airport, dam, basin, fire station, natural gas pipeline, energy transmission line, wastewater treatment plant, sewer, street lighting network, water main, water pumping station, water supply network, wharf, or similar property;

(2)  a road, sidewalk, runway, parking lot, storage area, or similar surface construction;

(3)  a machine or material accessory to property referred to in paragraph 1 or 2;

“smelting” means any processing of an ore or concentrate wherein the charge is melted and chemically converted to produce a slag and a matte or metal containing impurities;

“tax rate” applicable to an operator for a fiscal year means the rate determined for the fiscal year by the formula

A + B + C + D.

For the purposes of the definition of “amalgamation” in the first paragraph,

(1)  the acquisition of property of one legal person by another legal person or the distribution of property of a legal person being wound up to another legal person does not result in an amalgamation; and

(2)  for the purposes of paragraph 3 of that definition, when there is a merger of a legal person and one or more of its wholly-controlled subsidiaries or of two or more legal persons each of which is a wholly-controlled subsidiary of the same legal person, any share of the capital stock of a predecessor legal person owned by a shareholder, except a predecessor legal person, immediately before the merger that was not cancelled on the merger is deemed to be a share of the capital stock of the new legal person received by the shareholder as a result of the merger in consideration for the disposition of a share of the capital stock of the predecessor legal person.

For the purposes of subparagraph 2 of the second paragraph, a “wholly-controlled subsidiary” of a particular person means a legal person all of the issued and outstanding shares of the capital stock of which are owned

(1)  by the particular person;

(2)  by a legal person that is a wholly-controlled subsidiary of the particular person; or

(3)  by two or more persons each of which is a person described in paragraph 1 or 2.

In the formula in the definition of “tax rate” in the first paragraph,

(1)  A is the rate obtained by multiplying 12% by the proportion that the number of days in the fiscal year that precede 31 March 2010 is of the number of days in the fiscal year;

(2)  B is the rate obtained by multiplying 14% by the proportion that the number of days in the fiscal year that follow 30 March 2010 and precede 1 January 2011 is of the number of days in the fiscal year;

(3)  C is the rate obtained by multiplying 15% by the proportion that the number of days in the fiscal year that follow 31 December 2010 and precede 1 January 2012 is of the number of days in the fiscal year; and

(4)  D is the rate obtained by multiplying 16% by the proportion that the number of days in the fiscal year that follow 31 December 2011 is of the number of days in the fiscal year.

1975, c. 30, s. 1; 1985, c. 39, s. 1; 1987, c. 64, s. 334; 1994, c. 47, s. 1; 1996, c. 4, s. 1; 1996, c. 39, s. 2; 1997, c. 85, s. 18; 1999, c. 83, s. 4; 2000, c. 5, s. 1; 2001, c. 51, s. 1; 2002, c. 40, s. 13; 2003, c. 8, s. 6; 2006, c. 3, s. 35; 2011, c. 6, s. 16.

2006-04-19

1. In this Act, unless the context indicates otherwise,

“amalgamation” means a merger of several legal persons, hereinafter called “predecessor legal persons”, which are replaced to form one legal person hereinafter referred to as the “new legal person”, which is formed otherwise than by the acquisition of property of another legal person or by the distribution of property of another legal person being wound up;

“assessment” means an assessment, a reassessment or an additional assessment;

“concentration” means any processing of ore or mine tailings to separate a mineral substance from its gangue and obtain a concentrate;

“environmental trust” means an environmental trust, within the meaning of section 21.40 of the Taxation Act (chapter I‐3) that is resident in Québec for the purposes of Part I of that Act;

“exploration” means all surface work performed for the research and identification of mineral substances in Québec, until a mineral deposit has been delimited, if the work consists in

(1)  geological surveys;

(2)  ground or airborne geophysical surveys;

(3)  photogeological analyses;

(4)  geochemical or biogeochemical surveys;

(5)  soil stripping;

(6)  trenching;

(7)  sampling and analyses;

(8)  diamond drilling, percussion drilling or reverse circulation drilling;

(9)  any other surface work essential to the research and identification of a mineral deposit;

“government assistance” means any direct or indirect assistance from a government, municipality or other public body, whether as a subsidy, premium, forgivable loan, tax deduction, advance, or as any other form of assistance other than assistance excluded by regulation of the Government;

“mine” means an industrial complex situated in Québec, the object of which is the extraction and processing of mineral substances, and which may include an ore processing mill, a laboratory and various infrastructures such as port and rail facilities, and a camp;

“mine development” means all work subsequent to mineral deposit evaluation work, the purpose of which is to bring into production an orebody situated in Québec, if the work consists in

(1)  open pit stripping of overburden and waste rock above an orebody;

(2)  shaft sinking, the excavation of ramps, drifts and raises and other related mine development works, except work performed to make such openings in a mineralized zone, or giving access to a mineralized zone if the total length of the opening is less than 20 metres;

“mineral deposit” means a quantity of mineral substance having known physical limits;

“mineral deposit evaluation” means all work, other than work performed pursuant to a decision to bring an orebody into production, the object of which is the technical and economic evaluation of a mineral deposit for the purpose of identifying an orebody situated in Québec, if the work consists in

(1)  surface exploration work performed to ascertain more precisely the technical and economic parameters of a mineral deposit;

(2)  the excavation of ramps, adits, shafts, drifts, raises and other related works necessary to the underground reserve evaluation of a mineral deposit;

(3)  the underground or surface extraction of a bulk sample and testing in a mill or laboratory to verify drilling results and to determine the optimal conditions for extraction and processing;

(4)  determination of mining extraction and metallurgical technologies;

(5)  technical and economic studies necessary to a decision whether or not to bring an orebody into production;

(6)  any other work essential to the identification of the orebody;

“mineral substance” means any natural mineral substance, whether solid, gaseous or liquid, except water, and includes a fossilized organic substance or mine tailings, but does not include a mineral substance the well head value of which is subject to the royalty referred to in section 204 of the Mining Act (chapter M‐13.1);

“mining operation” means all work related to the various phases in the mineral development process, namely exploration, mineral deposit evaluation, mine development, the reclamation or rehabilitation of land situated in Québec, the extraction, processing, transportation, handling, storage and marketing of a mineral substance extracted from Québec soil up to the time of its alienation or use by the operator, and the processing of mine tailings from Québec, but does not include work

(1)  performed for others;

(2)  (paragraph repealed);

(3)  carried out after 17 October 1990 in respect of surface mineral substances within the meaning assigned to that expression in section 1 of the Mining Act, or of mineral substances the rights in or over which have been surrendered to the owner of the soil under section 5 of that Act;

“Minister” means the Minister of Natural Resources and Wildlife;

“northern mine” means a mine situated north of the fifty-fifth parallel of north latitude;

“operator” means a person or partnership, other than a joint venture, that performs mining operation work, either alone or with others, or through a mandatary, on land situated in Québec or in a mine he owns, leases or occupies;

“ore” means a mineral substance that may be extracted for the purpose of obtaining a commercial product;

“orebody” means a volume of ore having known physical limits;

“processing” means any activity involving the concentration, smelting or refining of a mineral substance and includes any activity involving pelletization, the production of powder or the production of steel billets, or any other activity prescribed by regulation;

“processing asset” means property to which section 10 applies, situated in Québec, that is

(1)  a processing plant;

(2)  equipment used entirely or almost entirely for processing;

(3)  property used mainly to supply water or energy to a processing plant;

(4)  (paragraph repealed);

(5)  property used entirely or almost entirely for the handling or transportation of a mineral substance within a processing plant; or

(6)  property used entirely or almost entirely for the handling or transportation of mine tailings emanating directly from a processing plant, to a mine tailings site or mine tailings heap;

but does not include

(7)  property used during an activity preliminary to primary crushing;

(8)  property used for the primary crushing of a mineral substance;

(9)  subject to paragraphs 4, 5 and 6, property used for the transportation, handling, storage or marketing of a mineral substance;

(10)  property used for the transportation of solid, liquid or gas fuel;

(11)  subject to paragraph 6, property used in the operation of a mine tailings site or mine tailings heap, from the first deposit of tailings in an area laid out for that purpose; or

(12)  subject to paragraph 3, service property;

“processing plant” means the whole or part of a building in which the processing of a mineral substance is carried out and which is used solely for that purpose;

“processing product” means a product, by-product or derivative obtained as a result of the processing of a mineral substance;

“refining” means any processing of a product from a smelting or concentration operation to remove impurities, which produces very high grade metal;

“service property” means property, other than a railroad not situated at the mine, acquired for the purpose of realizing or producing income from a mine and of providing services to the mine or to a townsite in which a large proportion of persons who ordinarily work in the mine reside, if the property is

(1)  an airport, dam, basin, fire station, natural gas pipeline, energy transmission line, wastewater treatment plant, sewer, street lighting network, water main, water pumping station, water supply network, wharf, or similar property;

(2)  a road, sidewalk, runway, parking lot, storage area, or similar surface construction;

(3)  a machine or material accessory to property referred to in paragraph 1 or 2;

“smelting” means any processing of an ore or concentrate wherein the charge is melted and chemically converted to produce a slag and a matte or metal containing impurities.

1975, c. 30, s. 1; 1985, c. 39, s. 1; 1987, c. 64, s. 334; 1994, c. 47, s. 1; 1996, c. 4, s. 1; 1996, c. 39, s. 2; 1997, c. 85, s. 18; 1999, c. 83, s. 4; 2000, c. 5, s. 1; 2001, c. 51, s. 1; 2002, c. 40, s. 13; 2003, c. 8, s. 6; 2006, c. 3, s. 35.

2003-11-27

1. In this Act, unless the context indicates otherwise,

“amalgamation” means a merger of several legal persons, hereinafter called “predecessor legal persons”, which are replaced to form one legal person hereinafter referred to as the “new legal person”, which is formed otherwise than by the acquisition of property of another legal person or by the distribution of property of another legal person being wound up;

“assessment” means an assessment, a reassessment or an additional assessment;

“concentration” means any processing of ore or mine tailings to separate a mineral substance from its gangue and obtain a concentrate;

“environmental trust” means an environmental trust, within the meaning of section 21.40 of the Taxation Act (chapter I-3) that is resident in Québec for the purposes of Part I of that Act;

“exploration” means all surface work performed for the research and identification of mineral substances in Québec, until a mineral deposit has been delimited, if the work consists in

(1)  geological surveys;

(2)  ground or airborne geophysical surveys;

(3)  photogeological analyses;

(4)  geochemical or biogeochemical surveys;

(5)  soil stripping;

(6)  trenching;

(7)  sampling and analyses;

(8)  diamond drilling, percussion drilling or reverse circulation drilling;

(9)  any other surface work essential to the research and identification of a mineral deposit;

“government assistance” means any direct or indirect assistance from a government, municipality or other public body, whether as a subsidy, premium, forgivable loan, tax deduction, advance, or as any other form of assistance other than assistance excluded by regulation of the Government;

“mine” means an industrial complex situated in Québec, the object of which is the extraction and processing of mineral substances, and which may include an ore processing mill, a laboratory and various infrastructures such as port and rail facilities, and a camp;

“mine development” means all work subsequent to mineral deposit evaluation work, the purpose of which is to bring into production an orebody situated in Québec, if the work consists in

(1)  open pit stripping of overburden and waste rock above an orebody;

(2)  shaft sinking, the excavation of ramps, drifts and raises and other related mine development works, except work performed to make such openings in a mineralized zone, or giving access to a mineralized zone if the total length of the opening is less than 20 metres;

“mineral deposit” means a quantity of mineral substance having known physical limits;

“mineral deposit evaluation” means all work, other than work performed pursuant to a decision to bring an orebody into production, the object of which is the technical and economic evaluation of a mineral deposit for the purpose of identifying an orebody situated in Québec, if the work consists in

(1)  surface exploration work performed to ascertain more precisely the technical and economic parameters of a mineral deposit;

(2)  the excavation of ramps, adits, shafts, drifts, raises and other related works necessary to the underground reserve evaluation of a mineral deposit;

(3)  the underground or surface extraction of a bulk sample and testing in a mill or laboratory to verify drilling results and to determine the optimal conditions for extraction and processing;

(4)  determination of mining extraction and metallurgical technologies;

(5)  technical and economic studies necessary to a decision whether or not to bring an orebody into production;

(6)  any other work essential to the identification of the orebody;

“mineral substance” means any natural mineral substance, whether solid, gaseous or liquid, except water, and includes a fossilized organic substance or mine tailings, but does not include a mineral substance the well head value of which is subject to the royalty referred to in section 204 of the Mining Act (chapter M-13.1);

“mining operation” means all work related to the various phases in the mineral development process, namely exploration, mineral deposit evaluation, mine development, the reclamation or rehabilitation of land situated in Québec, the extraction, processing, transportation, handling, storage and marketing of a mineral substance extracted from Québec soil up to the time of its alienation or use by the operator, and the processing of mine tailings from Québec, but does not include work

(1)  performed for others;

(2)  (paragraph repealed);

(3)  carried out after 17 October 1990 in respect of surface mineral substances within the meaning assigned to that expression in section 1 of the Mining Act, or of mineral substances the rights in or over which have been surrendered to the owner of the soil under section 5 of that Act;

“Minister” means the Minister of Natural Resources, Wildlife and Parks;

“northern mine” means a mine situated north of the fifty-fifth parallel of north latitude;

“operator” means a person or partnership, other than a joint venture, that performs mining operation work, either alone or with others, or through a mandatary, on land situated in Québec or in a mine he owns, leases or occupies;

“ore” means a mineral substance that may be extracted for the purpose of obtaining a commercial product;

“orebody” means a volume of ore having known physical limits;

“processing” means any activity involving the concentration, smelting or refining of a mineral substance and includes any activity involving pelletization, the production of powder or the production of steel billets, or any other activity prescribed by regulation;

“processing asset” means property to which section 10 applies, situated in Québec, that is

(1)  a processing plant;

(2)  equipment used entirely or almost entirely for processing;

(3)  property used mainly to supply water or energy to a processing plant;

(4)  (paragraph repealed);

(5)  property used entirely or almost entirely for the handling or transportation of a mineral substance within a processing plant; or

(6)  property used entirely or almost entirely for the handling or transportation of mine tailings emanating directly from a processing plant, to a mine tailings site or mine tailings heap;

but does not include

(7)  property used during an activity preliminary to primary crushing;

(8)  property used for the primary crushing of a mineral substance;

(9)  subject to paragraphs 4, 5 and 6, property used for the transportation, handling, storage or marketing of a mineral substance;

(10)  property used for the transportation of solid, liquid or gas fuel;

(11)  subject to paragraph 6, property used in the operation of a mine tailings site or mine tailings heap, from the first deposit of tailings in an area laid out for that purpose; or

(12)  subject to paragraph 3, service property;

“processing plant” means the whole or part of a building in which the processing of a mineral substance is carried out and which is used solely for that purpose;

“processing product” means a product, by-product or derivative obtained as a result of the processing of a mineral substance;

“refining” means any processing of a product from a smelting or concentration operation to remove impurities, which produces very high grade metal;

“service property” means property, other than a railroad not situated at the mine, acquired for the purpose of realizing or producing income from a mine and of providing services to the mine or to a townsite in which a large proportion of persons who ordinarily work in the mine reside, if the property is

(1)  an airport, dam, basin, fire station, natural gas pipeline, energy transmission line, wastewater treatment plant, sewer, street lighting network, water main, water pumping station, water supply network, wharf, or similar property;

(2)  a road, sidewalk, runway, parking lot, storage area, or similar surface construction;

(3)  a machine or material accessory to property referred to in paragraph 1 or 2;

“smelting” means any processing of an ore or concentrate wherein the charge is melted and chemically converted to produce a slag and a matte or metal containing impurities.

1975, c. 30, s. 1; 1985, c. 39, s. 1; 1987, c. 64, s. 334; 1994, c. 47, s. 1; 1996, c. 4, s. 1; 1996, c. 39, s. 2; 1997, c. 85, s. 18; 1999, c. 83, s. 4; 2000, c. 5, s. 1; 2001, c. 51, s. 1; 2002, c. 40, s. 13; 2003, c. 8, s. 6.

2002-10-17

1. In this Act, unless the context indicates otherwise,

“amalgamation” means a merger of several legal persons, hereinafter called “predecessor legal persons”, which are replaced to form one legal person hereinafter referred to as the “new legal person”, which is formed otherwise than by the acquisition of property of another legal person or by the distribution of property of another legal person being wound up;

“assessment” means an assessment, a reassessment or an additional assessment;

“concentration” means any processing of ore or mine tailings to separate a mineral substance from its gangue and obtain a concentrate;

“environmental trust” means an environmental trust, within the meaning of section 21.40 of the Taxation Act (chapter I-3) that is resident in Québec for the purposes of Part I of that Act;

“exploration” means all surface work performed for the research and identification of mineral substances in Québec, until a mineral deposit has been delimited, if the work consists in

(1)  geological surveys;

(2)  ground or airborne geophysical surveys;

(3)  photogeological analyses;

(4)  geochemical or biogeochemical surveys;

(5)  soil stripping;

(6)  trenching;

(7)  sampling and analyses;

(8)  diamond drilling, percussion drilling or reverse circulation drilling;

(9)  any other surface work essential to the research and identification of a mineral deposit;

“government assistance” means any direct or indirect assistance from a government, municipality or other public body, whether as a subsidy, premium, forgivable loan, tax deduction, advance, or as any other form of assistance other than assistance excluded by regulation of the Government;

“mine” means an industrial complex situated in Québec, the object of which is the extraction and processing of mineral substances, and which may include an ore processing mill, a laboratory and various infrastructures such as port and rail facilities, and a camp;

“mine development” means all work subsequent to mineral deposit evaluation work, the purpose of which is to bring into production an orebody situated in Québec, if the work consists in

(1)  open pit stripping of overburden and waste rock above an orebody;

(2)  shaft sinking, the excavation of ramps, drifts and raises and other related mine development works, except work performed to make such openings in a mineralized zone, or giving access to a mineralized zone if the total length of the opening is less than 20 metres;

“mineral deposit” means a quantity of mineral substance having known physical limits;

“mineral deposit evaluation” means all work, other than work performed pursuant to a decision to bring an orebody into production, the object of which is the technical and economic evaluation of a mineral deposit for the purpose of identifying an orebody situated in Québec, if the work consists in

(1)  surface exploration work performed to ascertain more precisely the technical and economic parameters of a mineral deposit;

(2)  the excavation of ramps, adits, shafts, drifts, raises and other related works necessary to the underground reserve evaluation of a mineral deposit;

(3)  the underground or surface extraction of a bulk sample and testing in a mill or laboratory to verify drilling results and to determine the optimal conditions for extraction and processing;

(4)  determination of mining extraction and metallurgical technologies;

(5)  technical and economic studies necessary to a decision whether or not to bring an orebody into production;

(6)  any other work essential to the identification of the orebody;

“mineral substance” means any natural mineral substance, whether solid, gaseous or liquid, except water, and includes a fossilized organic substance or mine tailings, but does not include a mineral substance the well head value of which is subject to the royalty referred to in section 204 of the Mining Act (chapter M-13.1);

“mining operation” means all work related to the various phases in the mineral development process, namely exploration, mineral deposit evaluation, mine development, the reclamation or rehabilitation of land situated in Québec, the extraction, processing, transportation, handling, storage and marketing of a mineral substance extracted from Québec soil up to the time of its alienation or use by the operator, and the processing of mine tailings from Québec, but does not include work

(1)  performed for others;

(2)  (paragraph repealed);

(3)  carried out after 17 October 1990 in respect of surface mineral substances within the meaning assigned to that expression in section 1 of the Mining Act, or of mineral substances the rights in or over which have been surrendered to the owner of the soil under section 5 of that Act;

“Minister” means the Minister of Natural Resources;

“northern mine” means a mine situated north of the fifty-fifth parallel of north latitude;

“operator” means a person or partnership, other than a joint venture, that performs mining operation work, either alone or with others, or through a mandatary, on land situated in Québec or in a mine he owns, leases or occupies;

“ore” means a mineral substance that may be extracted for the purpose of obtaining a commercial product;

“orebody” means a volume of ore having known physical limits;

“processing” means any activity involving the concentration, smelting or refining of a mineral substance and includes any activity involving pelletization, the production of powder or the production of steel billets, or any other activity prescribed by regulation;

“processing asset” means property to which section 10 applies, situated in Québec, that is

(1)  a processing plant;

(2)  equipment used entirely or almost entirely for processing;

(3)  property used mainly to supply water or energy to a processing plant;

(4)  (paragraph repealed);

(5)  property used entirely or almost entirely for the handling or transportation of a mineral substance within a processing plant; or

(6)  property used entirely or almost entirely for the handling or transportation of mine tailings emanating directly from a processing plant, to a mine tailings site or mine tailings heap;

but does not include

(7)  property used during an activity preliminary to primary crushing;

(8)  property used for the primary crushing of a mineral substance;

(9)  subject to paragraphs 4, 5 and 6, property used for the transportation, handling, storage or marketing of a mineral substance;

(10)  property used for the transportation of solid, liquid or gas fuel;

(11)  subject to paragraph 6, property used in the operation of a mine tailings site or mine tailings heap, from the first deposit of tailings in an area laid out for that purpose; or

(12)  subject to paragraph 3, service property;

“processing plant” means the whole or part of a building in which the processing of a mineral substance is carried out and which is used solely for that purpose;

“processing product” means a product, by-product or derivative obtained as a result of the processing of a mineral substance;

“refining” means any processing of a product from a smelting or concentration operation to remove impurities, which produces very high grade metal;

“service property” means property, other than a railroad not situated at the mine, acquired for the purpose of realizing or producing income from a mine and of providing services to the mine or to a townsite in which a large proportion of persons who ordinarily work in the mine reside, if the property is

(1)  an airport, dam, basin, fire station, natural gas pipeline, energy transmission line, wastewater treatment plant, sewer, street lighting network, water main, water pumping station, water supply network, wharf, or similar property;

(2)  a road, sidewalk, runway, parking lot, storage area, or similar surface construction;

(3)  a machine or material accessory to property referred to in paragraph 1 or 2;

“smelting” means any processing of an ore or concentrate wherein the charge is melted and chemically converted to produce a slag and a matte or metal containing impurities.

1975, c. 30, s. 1; 1985, c. 39, s. 1; 1987, c. 64, s. 334; 1994, c. 47, s. 1; 1996, c. 4, s. 1; 1996, c. 39, s. 2; 1997, c. 85, s. 18; 1999, c. 83, s. 4; 2000, c. 5, s. 1; 2001, c. 51, s. 1; 2002, c. 40, s. 13.

2001-12-20

1. In this Act, unless the context indicates otherwise,

“amalgamation” means a merger of several legal persons, hereinafter called “predecessor legal persons”, which are replaced to form one legal person hereinafter referred to as the “new legal person”, which is formed otherwise than by the acquisition of property of another legal person or by the distribution of property of another legal person being wound up;

“assessment” means an assessment, a reassessment or an additional assessment;

“concentration” means any processing of ore or mine tailings to separate a mineral substance from its gangue and obtain a concentrate;

“environmental trust” means an environmental trust, within the meaning of section 21.40 of the Taxation Act (chapter I-3) that is resident in Québec for the purposes of Part I of that Act;

“exploration” means all surface work performed for the research and identification of mineral substances in Québec, until a mineral deposit has been delimited, if the work consists in

(1)  geological surveys;

(2)  ground or airborne geophysical surveys;

(3)  photogeological analyses;

(4)  geochemical or biogeochemical surveys;

(5)  soil stripping;

(6)  trenching;

(7)  sampling and analyses;

(8)  diamond drilling, percussion drilling or reverse circulation drilling;

(9)  any other surface work essential to the research and identification of a mineral deposit;

“government assistance” means any direct or indirect assistance from a government, municipality or other public body, whether as a subsidy, premium, forgivable loan, tax deduction, advance, or as any other form of assistance other than assistance excluded by regulation of the Government;

“mine” means an industrial complex situated in Québec, the object of which is the extraction and processing of mineral substances, and which may include an ore processing mill, a laboratory and various infrastructures such as port and rail facilities, and a camp;

“mine development” means all work subsequent to mineral deposit evaluation work, the purpose of which is to bring into production an orebody situated in Québec, if the work consists in

(1)  open pit stripping of overburden and waste rock above an orebody;

(2)  shaft sinking, the excavation of ramps, drifts and raises and other related mine development works, except work performed to make such openings in a mineralized zone, or giving access to a mineralized zone if the total length of the opening is less than 20 metres;

“mineral deposit” means a quantity of mineral substance having known physical limits;

“mineral deposit evaluation” means all work, other than work performed pursuant to a decision to bring an orebody into production, the object of which is the technical and economic evaluation of a mineral deposit for the purpose of identifying an orebody situated in Québec, if the work consists in

(1)  surface exploration work performed to ascertain more precisely the technical and economic parameters of a mineral deposit;

(2)  the excavation of ramps, adits, shafts, drifts, raises and other related works necessary to the underground reserve evaluation of a mineral deposit;

(3)  the underground or surface extraction of a bulk sample and testing in a mill or laboratory to verify drilling results and to determine the optimal conditions for extraction and processing;

(4)  determination of mining extraction and metallurgical technologies;

(5)  technical and economic studies necessary to a decision whether or not to bring an orebody into production;

(6)  any other work essential to the identification of the orebody;

“mineral substance” means any natural mineral substance, whether solid, gaseous or liquid, except water, and includes a fossilized organic substance or mine tailings, but does not include a mineral substance the well head value of which is subject to the royalty referred to in section 204 of the Mining Act (chapter M-13.1);

“mining operation” means all work related to the various phases in the mineral development process, namely exploration, mineral deposit evaluation, mine development, the reclamation or rehabilitation of land situated in Québec, the extraction, processing, transportation, handling, storage and marketing of a mineral substance extracted from Québec soil up to the time of its alienation or use by the operator, and the processing of mine tailings from Québec, but does not include work

(1)  performed for others;

(2)  (paragraph repealed);

(3)  carried out after 17 October 1990 in respect of surface mineral substances within the meaning assigned to that expression in section 1 of the Mining Act, or of mineral substances the rights in or over which have been surrendered to the owner of the soil under section 5 of that Act;

“Minister” means the Minister of Natural Resources;

“northern mine” means a mine situated north of the fifty-fifth parallel of north latitude;

“operator” means a person or partnership, other than a joint venture, that performs mining operation work, either alone or with others, or through a mandatary, on land situated in Québec or in a mine he owns, leases or occupies;

“ore” means a mineral substance that may be extracted for the purpose of obtaining a commercial product;

“orebody” means a volume of ore having known physical limits;

“processing” means any activity involving the concentration, smelting or refining of a mineral substance and includes any activity involving pelletization, the production of powder or the production of steel billets, or any other activity prescribed by regulation;

“processing asset” means property to which section 10 applies, situated in Québec, that is

(1)  a processing plant;

(2)  equipment used entirely or almost entirely for processing;

(3)  property used mainly to supply water or energy to a processing plant;

(4)  property for the stockpiling of a mineral substance and property for the ensuing handling thereof, used for the direct supply of, and immediately adjacent to, a processing plant;

(5)  property used entirely or almost entirely for the handling or transportation of a mineral substance within a processing plant; or

(6)  property used entirely or almost entirely for the handling or transportation of mine tailings emanating directly from a processing plant, to a mine tailings site or mine tailings heap;

but does not include

(7)  property used during an activity preliminary to primary crushing;

(8)  property used for the primary crushing of a mineral substance;

(9)  subject to paragraphs 4, 5 and 6, property used for the transportation, handling, storage or marketing of a mineral substance;

(10)  property used for the transportation of solid, liquid or gas fuel;

(11)  subject to paragraph 6, property used in the operation of a mine tailings site or mine tailings heap, from the first deposit of tailings in an area laid out for that purpose; or

(12)  subject to paragraph 3, service property;

“processing plant” means the whole or part of a building in which the processing of a mineral substance is carried out and which is used solely for that purpose;

“processing product” means a product, by-product or derivative obtained as a result of the processing of a mineral substance;

“refining” means any processing of a product from a smelting or concentration operation to remove impurities, which produces very high grade metal;

“service property” means property, other than a railroad not situated at the mine, acquired for the purpose of realizing or producing income from a mine and of providing services to the mine or to a townsite in which a large proportion of persons who ordinarily work in the mine reside, if the property is

(1)  an airport, dam, basin, fire station, natural gas pipeline, energy transmission line, wastewater treatment plant, sewer, street lighting network, water main, water pumping station, water supply network, wharf, or similar property;

(2)  a road, sidewalk, runway, parking lot, storage area, or similar surface construction;

(3)  a machine or material accessory to property referred to in paragraph 1 or 2;

“smelting” means any processing of an ore or concentrate wherein the charge is melted and chemically converted to produce a slag and a matte or metal containing impurities.

1975, c. 30, s. 1; 1985, c. 39, s. 1; 1987, c. 64, s. 334; 1994, c. 47, s. 1; 1996, c. 4, s. 1; 1996, c. 39, s. 2; 1997, c. 85, s. 18; 1999, c. 83, s. 4; 2000, c. 5, s. 1; 2001, c. 51, s. 1.

2000-05-11

1. In this Act, unless the context indicates otherwise,

“amalgamation” means a merger of several legal persons, hereinafter called “predecessor legal persons”, which are replaced to form one legal person hereinafter referred to as the “new legal person”, which is formed otherwise than by the acquisition of property of another legal person or by the distribution of property of another legal person being wound up;

“assessment” means an assessment, a reassessment or an additional assessment;

“concentration” means any processing of ore or mine tailings to separate a mineral substance from its gangue and obtain a concentrate;

“environmental trust” means an environmental trust, within the meaning of section 21.40 of the Taxation Act (chapter I-3) that is resident in Québec for the purposes of Part I of that Act ;

“exploration” means all surface work performed for the research and identification of mineral substances in Québec, until a mineral deposit has been delimited, if the work consists in

(1)  geological surveys;

(2)  ground or airborne geophysical surveys;

(3)  photogeological analyses;

(4)  geochemical or biogeochemical surveys;

(5)  soil stripping;

(6)  trenching;

(7)  sampling and analyses;

(8)  diamond drilling, percussion drilling or reverse circulation drilling;

(9)  any other surface work essential to the research and identification of a mineral deposit;

“government assistance” means any direct or indirect assistance from a government, municipality or other public body, whether as a subsidy, premium, forgivable loan, tax deduction, advance, or as any other form of assistance other than assistance excluded by regulation of the Government;

“mine” means an industrial complex situated in Québec, the object of which is the extraction and processing of mineral substances, and which may include an ore processing mill, a laboratory and various infrastructures such as port and rail facilities, and a camp;

“mine development” means all work subsequent to mineral deposit evaluation work, the purpose of which is to bring into production an orebody situated in Québec, if the work consists in

(1)  open pit stripping of overburden and waste rock above an orebody;

(2)  shaft sinking, the excavation of ramps, drifts and raises and other related mine development works, except work performed to make such openings in a mineralized zone, or giving access to a mineralized zone if the total length of the opening is less than 20 metres;

“mineral deposit” means a quantity of mineral substance having known physical limits;

“mineral deposit evaluation” means all work, other than work performed pursuant to a decision to bring an orebody into production, the object of which is the technical and economic evaluation of a mineral deposit for the purpose of identifying an orebody situated in Québec, if the work consists in

(1)  surface exploration work performed to ascertain more precisely the technical and economic parameters of a mineral deposit;

(2)  the excavation of ramps, adits, shafts, drifts, raises and other related works necessary to the underground reserve evaluation of a mineral deposit;

(3)  the underground or surface extraction of a bulk sample and testing in a mill or laboratory to verify drilling results and to determine the optimal conditions for extraction and processing;

(4)  determination of mining extraction and metallurgical technologies;

(5)  technical and economic studies necessary to a decision whether or not to bring an orebody into production;

(6)  any other work essential to the identification of the orebody;

“mineral substance” means any natural mineral substance, whether solid, gaseous or liquid, except water, and includes a fossilized organic substance or mine tailings;

“mining operation” means all work related to the various phases in the mineral development process, namely exploration, mineral deposit evaluation, mine development, the reclamation or rehabilitation of land situated in Québec, the extraction, processing, transportation, handling, storage and marketing of a mineral substance extracted from Québec soil up to the time of its alienation or use by the operator, and the processing of mine tailings from Québec, but does not include work

(1)  performed for others;

(2)  relating to the extraction of a mineral substance the well head value of which is subject to the royalty referred to in section 204 of the Mining Act (chapter M-13.1);

(3)  carried out after 17 October 1990 in respect of surface mineral substances as defined in section 1 of the Mining Act, or of mineral substances the rights in or over which have been surrendered to the owner of the soil under section 5 of that Act;

“Minister” means the Minister of Natural Resources;

“northern mine” means a mine situated north of the fifty-fifth parallel of north latitude;

“operator” means a person or partnership, other than a joint venture, that performs mining operation work, either alone or with others, or through a mandatary, on land situated in Québec or in a mine he owns, leases or occupies;

“ore” means a mineral substance that may be extracted for the purpose of obtaining a commercial product;

“orebody” means a volume of ore having known physical limits;

“processing” means any activity involving the concentration, smelting or refining of a mineral substance and includes any activity involving pelletization, the production of powder or the production of steel billets, or any other activity prescribed by regulation;

“processing asset” means property to which section 10 applies, situated in Québec, that is

(1)  a processing plant;

(2)  equipment used entirely or almost entirely for processing;

(3)  property used mainly to supply water or energy to a processing plant;

(4)  property for the stockpiling of a mineral substance and property for the ensuing handling thereof, used for the direct supply of, and immediately adjacent to, a processing plant;

(5)  property used entirely or almost entirely for the handling or transportation of a mineral substance within a processing plant; or

(6)  property used entirely or almost entirely for the handling or transportation of mine tailings emanating directly from a processing plant, to a mine tailings site or mine tailings heap;

but does not include

(7)  property used during an activity preliminary to primary crushing;

(8)  property used for the primary crushing of a mineral substance;

(9)  subject to paragraphs 4, 5 and 6, property used for the transportation, handling, storage or marketing of a mineral substance;

(10)  property used for the transportation of solid, liquid or gas fuel;

(11)  subject to paragraph 6, property used in the operation of a mine tailings site or mine tailings heap, from the first deposit of tailings in an area laid out for that purpose; or

(12)  subject to paragraph 3, service property;

“processing plant” means the whole or part of a building in which the processing of a mineral substance is carried out and which is used solely for that purpose;

“processing product” means a product, by-product or derivative obtained as a result of the processing of a mineral substance;

“refining” means any processing of a product from a smelting or concentration operation to remove impurities, which produces very high grade metal;

“service property” means property, other than a railroad not situated at the mine, acquired for the purpose of realizing or producing income from a mine and of providing services to the mine or to a townsite in which a large proportion of persons who ordinarily work in the mine reside, if the property is

(1)  an airport, dam, basin, fire station, natural gas pipeline, energy transmission line, wastewater treatment plant, sewer, street lighting network, water main, water pumping station, water supply network, wharf, or similar property;

(2)  a road, sidewalk, runway, parking lot, storage area, or similar surface construction;

(3)  a machine or material accessory to property referred to in paragraph 1 or 2;

“smelting” means any processing of an ore or concentrate wherein the charge is melted and chemically converted to produce a slag and a matte or metal containing impurities.

1975, c. 30, s. 1; 1985, c. 39, s. 1; 1987, c. 64, s. 334; 1994, c. 47, s. 1; 1996, c. 4, s. 1; 1996, c. 39, s. 2; 1997, c. 85, s. 18; 1999, c. 83, s. 4; 2000, c. 5, s. 1.

1999-12-20

1. In this Act, unless the context indicates otherwise,

“amalgamation” means a merger of several legal persons, hereinafter called “predecessor legal persons”, which are replaced to form one legal person hereinafter referred to as the “new legal person”, which is formed otherwise than by the acquisition of property of another legal person or by the distribution of property of another legal person being wound up;

“assessment” means an assessment, a reassessment or an additional assessment;

“concentration” means any processing of ore or mine tailings to separate a mineral substance from its gangue and obtain a concentrate;

“exploration” means all surface work performed for the research and identification of mineral substances in Québec, until a mineral deposit has been delimited, if the work consists in

(1)  geological surveys;

(2)  ground or airborne geophysical surveys;

(3)  photogeological analyses;

(4)  geochemical or biogeochemical surveys;

(5)  soil stripping;

(6)  trenching;

(7)  sampling and analyses;

(8)  diamond drilling, percussion drilling or reverse circulation drilling;

(9)  any other surface work essential to the research and identification of a mineral deposit;

“government assistance” means any direct or indirect assistance from a government, municipality or other public body, whether as a subsidy, premium, forgivable loan, tax deduction, advance, or as any other form of assistance other than assistance excluded by regulation of the Government;

“mine” means an industrial complex situated in Québec, the object of which is the extraction and processing of mineral substances, and which may include an ore processing mill, a laboratory and various infrastructures such as port and rail facilities, and a camp;

“mine development” means all work subsequent to mineral deposit evaluation work, the purpose of which is to bring into production an orebody situated in Québec, if the work consists in

(1)  open pit stripping of overburden and waste rock above an orebody;

(2)  shaft sinking, the excavation of ramps, drifts and raises and other related mine development works, except work performed to make such openings in a mineralized zone, or giving access to a mineralized zone if the total length of the opening is less than 20 metres;

“mineral deposit” means a quantity of mineral substance having known physical limits;

“mineral deposit evaluation” means all work, other than work performed pursuant to a decision to bring an orebody into production, the object of which is the technical and economic evaluation of a mineral deposit for the purpose of identifying an orebody situated in Québec, if the work consists in

(1)  surface exploration work performed to ascertain more precisely the technical and economic parameters of a mineral deposit;

(2)  the excavation of ramps, adits, shafts, drifts, raises and other related works necessary to the underground reserve evaluation of a mineral deposit;

(3)  the underground or surface extraction of a bulk sample and testing in a mill or laboratory to verify drilling results and to determine the optimal conditions for extraction and processing;

(4)  determination of mining extraction and metallurgical technologies;

(5)  technical and economic studies necessary to a decision whether or not to bring an orebody into production;

(6)  any other work essential to the identification of the orebody;

“mineral substance” means any natural mineral substance, whether solid, gaseous or liquid, except water, and includes a fossilized organic substance or mine tailings;

“mining operation” means all work related to the various phases in the mineral development process, namely exploration, mineral deposit evaluation, mine development, the reclamation or rehabilitation of land situated in Québec, the extraction, processing, transportation, handling, storage and marketing of a mineral substance extracted from Québec soil up to the time of its alienation or use by the operator, and the processing of mine tailings from Québec, but does not include work

(1)  performed for others;

(2)  relating to the extraction of a mineral substance the well head value of which is subject to the royalty referred to in section 204 of the Mining Act (chapter M-13.1);

(3)  carried out after 17 October 1990 in respect of surface mineral substances as defined in section 1 of the Mining Act, or of mineral substances the rights in or over which have been surrendered to the owner of the soil under section 5 of that Act;

“mining reclamation trust” means a mining reclamation trust, within the meaning assigned by section 21.39 of the Taxation Act (chapter I-3), that is resident in Québec for the purposes of Part I of that Act;

“Minister” means the Minister of Natural Resources;

“northern mine” means a mine situated north of the fifty-fifth parallel of north latitude;

“operator” means a person or partnership, other than a joint venture, that performs mining operation work, either alone or with others, or through a mandatary, on land situated in Québec or in a mine he owns, leases or occupies;

“ore” means a mineral substance that may be extracted for the purpose of obtaining a commercial product;

“orebody” means a volume of ore having known physical limits;

“processing” means any activity involving the concentration, smelting or refining of a mineral substance and includes any activity involving pelletization, the production of powder or the production of steel billets, or any other activity prescribed by regulation;

“processing asset” means property to which section 10 applies, situated in Québec, that is

(1)  a processing plant;

(2)  equipment used entirely or almost entirely for processing;

(3)  property used mainly to supply water or energy to a processing plant;

(4)  property for the stockpiling of a mineral substance and property for the ensuing handling thereof, used for the direct supply of, and immediately adjacent to, a processing plant;

(5)  property used entirely or almost entirely for the handling or transportation of a mineral substance within a processing plant; or

(6)  property used entirely or almost entirely for the handling or transportation of mine tailings emanating directly from a processing plant, to a mine tailings site or mine tailings heap;

but does not include

(7)  property used during an activity preliminary to primary crushing;

(8)  property used for the primary crushing of a mineral substance;

(9)  subject to paragraphs 4, 5 and 6, property used for the transportation, handling, storage or marketing of a mineral substance;

(10)  property used for the transportation of solid, liquid or gas fuel;

(11)  subject to paragraph 6, property used in the operation of a mine tailings site or mine tailings heap, from the first deposit of tailings in an area laid out for that purpose; or

(12)  subject to paragraph 3, service property;

“processing plant” means the whole or part of a building in which the processing of a mineral substance is carried out and which is used solely for that purpose;

“processing product” means a product, by-product or derivative obtained as a result of the processing of a mineral substance;

“refining” means any processing of a product from a smelting or concentration operation to remove impurities, which produces very high grade metal;

“service property” means property, other than a railroad not situated at the mine, acquired for the purpose of realizing or producing income from a mine and of providing services to the mine or to a townsite in which a large proportion of persons who ordinarily work in the mine reside, if the property is

(1)  an airport, dam, basin, fire station, natural gas pipeline, energy transmission line, wastewater treatment plant, sewer, street lighting network, water main, water pumping station, water supply network, wharf, or similar property;

(2)  a road, sidewalk, runway, parking lot, storage area, or similar surface construction;

(3)  a machine or material accessory to property referred to in paragraph 1 or 2;

“smelting” means any processing of an ore or concentrate wherein the charge is melted and chemically converted to produce a slag and a matte or metal containing impurities.

1975, c. 30, s. 1; 1985, c. 39, s. 1; 1987, c. 64, s. 334; 1994, c. 47, s. 1; 1996, c. 4, s. 1; 1996, c. 39, s. 2; 1997, c. 85, s. 18; 1999, c. 83, s. 4.

1997-12-19

1. In this Act, unless the context indicates otherwise,

“amalgamation” means a merger of several legal persons, hereinafter called “predecessor legal persons”, which are replaced to form one legal person hereinafter referred to as the “new legal person”, which is formed otherwise than by the acquisition of property of another legal person or by the distribution of property of another legal person being wound up;

“assessment” means an assessment, a reassessment or an additional assessment;

“concentration” means any processing of ore or mine tailings to separate a mineral substance from its gangue and obtain a concentrate;

“exploration” means all surface work performed for the research and identification of mineral substances in Québec, until a mineral deposit has been delimited, if the work consists in

(1)  geological surveys;

(2)  ground or airborne geophysical surveys;

(3)  photogeological analyses;

(4)  geochemical or biogeochemical surveys;

(5)  soil stripping;

(6)  trenching;

(7)  sampling and analyses;

(8)  diamond drilling, percussion drilling or reverse circulation drilling;

(9)  any other surface work essential to the research and identification of a mineral deposit;

“government assistance” means any direct or indirect assistance from a government, municipality or other public body, whether as a subsidy, premium, forgivable loan, tax deduction, advance, or as any other form of assistance other than assistance excluded by regulation of the Government;

“mine” means an industrial complex situated in Québec, the object of which is the extraction and processing of mineral substances, and which may include an ore processing mill, a laboratory and various infrastructures such as port and rail facilities, and a camp;

“mine development” means all work subsequent to mineral deposit evaluation work, the purpose of which is to bring into production an orebody situated in Québec, if the work consists in

(1)  open pit stripping of overburden and waste rock above an orebody;

(2)  shaft sinking, the excavation of ramps, drifts and raises and other related mine development works, except work performed to make such openings in a mineralized zone, or giving access to a mineralized zone if the total length of the opening is less than 20 metres;

“mineral deposit” means a quantity of mineral substance having known physical limits;

“mineral deposit evaluation” means all work, other than work performed pursuant to a decision to bring an orebody into production, the object of which is the technical and economic evaluation of a mineral deposit for the purpose of identifying an orebody situated in Québec, if the work consists in

(1)  surface exploration work performed to ascertain more precisely the technical and economic parameters of a mineral deposit;

(2)  the excavation of ramps, adits, shafts, drifts, raises and other related works necessary to the underground reserve evaluation of a mineral deposit;

(3)  the underground or surface extraction of a bulk sample and testing in a mill or laboratory to verify drilling results and to determine the optimal conditions for extraction and processing;

(4)  determination of mining extraction and metallurgical technologies;

(5)  technical and economic studies necessary to a decision whether or not to bring an orebody into production;

(6)  any other work essential to the identification of the orebody;

“mineral substance” means any natural mineral substance, whether solid, gaseous or liquid, except water, and includes a fossilized organic substance or mine tailings;

“mining operation” means all work related to the various phases in the mineral development process, namely exploration, mineral deposit evaluation, mine development, the reclamation or rehabilitation of land situated in Québec, the extraction, processing, transportation, handling, storage and marketing of a mineral substance extracted from Québec soil up to the time of its alienation or use by the operator, and the processing of mine tailings from Québec, but does not include work

(1)  performed for others;

(2)  relating to the extraction of a mineral substance the well head value of which is subject to the royalty referred to in section 204 of the Mining Act (chapter M-13.1);

(3)  carried out after 17 October 1990 in respect of surface mineral substances as defined in section 1 of the Mining Act, or of mineral substances the rights in or over which have been surrendered to the owner of the soil under section 5 of that Act;

“mining reclamation trust” means a mining reclamation trust, within the meaning assigned by section 21.39 of the Taxation Act (chapter I-3), that is resident in Québec for the purposes of Part I of that Act;

“northern mine” means a mine situated north of the fifty-fifth parallel of north latitude;

“operator” means a person or partnership, other than a joint venture, that performs mining operation work, either alone or with others, or through a mandatary, on land situated in Québec or in a mine he owns, leases or occupies;

“ore” means a mineral substance that may be extracted for the purpose of obtaining a commercial product;

“orebody” means a volume of ore having known physical limits;

“processing” means any activity involving the concentration, smelting or refining of a mineral substance and includes any activity involving pelletization, the production of powder or the production of steel billets, or any other activity prescribed by regulation;

“processing asset” means property to which section 10 applies, situated in Québec, that is

(1)  a processing plant;

(2)  equipment used entirely or almost entirely for processing;

(3)  property used mainly to supply water or energy to a processing plant;

(4)  property for the stockpiling of a mineral substance and property for the ensuing handling thereof, used for the direct supply of, and immediately adjacent to, a processing plant;

(5)  property used entirely or almost entirely for the handling or transportation of a mineral substance within a processing plant; or

(6)  property used entirely or almost entirely for the handling or transportation of mine tailings emanating directly from a processing plant, to a mine tailings site or mine tailings heap;

but does not include

(7)  property used during an activity preliminary to primary crushing;

(8)  property used for the primary crushing of a mineral substance;

(9)  subject to paragraphs 4, 5 and 6, property used for the transportation, handling, storage or marketing of a mineral substance;

(10)  property used for the transportation of solid, liquid or gas fuel;

(11)  subject to paragraph 6, property used in the operation of a mine tailings site or mine tailings heap, from the first deposit of tailings in an area laid out for that purpose; or

(12)  subject to paragraph 3, service property;

“processing plant” means the whole or part of a building in which the processing of a mineral substance is carried out and which is used solely for that purpose;

“processing product” means a product, by-product or derivative obtained as a result of the processing of a mineral substance;

“refining” means any processing of a product from a smelting or concentration operation to remove impurities, which produces very high grade metal;

“service property” means property, other than a railroad not situated at the mine, acquired for the purpose of realizing or producing income from a mine and of providing services to the mine or to a townsite in which a large proportion of persons who ordinarily work in the mine reside, if the property is

(1)  an airport, dam, basin, fire station, natural gas pipeline, energy transmission line, wastewater treatment plant, sewer, street lighting network, water main, water pumping station, water supply network, wharf, or similar property;

(2)  a road, sidewalk, runway, parking lot, storage area, or similar surface construction;

(3)  a machine or material accessory to property referred to in paragraph 1 or 2;

“smelting” means any processing of an ore or concentrate wherein the charge is melted and chemically converted to produce a slag and a matte or metal containing impurities.

1975, c. 30, s. 1; 1985, c. 39, s. 1; 1987, c. 64, s. 334; 1994, c. 47, s. 1; 1996, c. 4, s. 1; 1996, c. 39, s. 2; 1997, c. 85, s. 18.

1996-10-30

1. In this Act, unless the context indicates otherwise,

“amalgamation” means a merger of several legal persons, hereinafter called “predecessor legal persons”, which are replaced to form one legal person hereinafter referred to as the “new legal person”, which is formed otherwise than by the acquisition of property of another legal person or by the distribution of property of another legal person being wound up;

“assessment” means an assessment, a reassessment or an additional assessment;

“concentration” means any processing of ore or mine tailings to separate a mineral substance from its gangue and obtain a concentrate;

“exploration” means all surface work performed for the research and identification of mineral substances in Québec, until a mineral deposit has been delimited, if the work consists in

(1)  geological surveys;

(2)  ground or airborne geophysical surveys;

(3)  photogeological analyses;

(4)  geochemical or biogeochemical surveys;

(5)  soil stripping;

(6)  trenching;

(7)  sampling and analyses;

(8)  diamond drilling, percussion drilling or reverse circulation drilling;

(9)  any other surface work essential to the research and identification of a mineral deposit;

“government assistance” means any direct or indirect assistance from a government, municipality or other public body, whether as a subsidy, premium, forgivable loan, tax deduction, advance, or as any other form of assistance other than assistance excluded by regulation of the Government;

“mine” means an industrial complex situated in Québec, the object of which is the extraction and processing of mineral substances, and which may include an ore processing mill, a laboratory and various infrastructures such as port and rail facilities, and a camp;

“mine development” means all work subsequent to mineral deposit evaluation work, the purpose of which is to bring into production an orebody situated in Québec, if the work consists in

(1)  open pit stripping of overburden and waste rock above an orebody;

(2)  shaft sinking, the excavation of ramps, drifts and raises and other related mine development works, except work performed to make such openings in a mineralized zone, or giving access to a mineralized zone if the total length of the opening is less than 20 metres;

“mineral deposit” means a quantity of mineral substance having known physical limits;

“mineral deposit evaluation” means all work, other than work performed pursuant to a decision to bring an orebody into production, the object of which is the technical and economic evaluation of a mineral deposit for the purpose of identifying an orebody situated in Québec, if the work consists in

(1)  surface exploration work performed to ascertain more precisely the technical and economic parameters of a mineral deposit;

(2)  the excavation of ramps, adits, shafts, drifts, raises and other related works necessary to the underground reserve evaluation of a mineral deposit;

(3)  the underground or surface extraction of a bulk sample and testing in a mill or laboratory to verify drilling results and to determine the optimal conditions for extraction and processing;

(4)  determination of mining extraction and metallurgical technologies;

(5)  technical and economic studies necessary to a decision whether or not to bring an orebody into production;

(6)  any other work essential to the identification of the orebody;

“mineral substance” means any natural mineral substance, whether solid, gaseous or liquid, except water, and includes a fossilized organic substance or mine tailings;

“mining operation” means all work related to the various phases in the mineral development process, namely exploration, mineral deposit evaluation, mine development, the reclamation or rehabilitation of land situated in Québec, the extraction, processing, transportation, handling, storage and marketing of a mineral substance extracted from Québec soil up to the time of its alienation or use by the operator, and the processing of mine tailings from Québec, but does not include work

(1)  performed for others;

(2)  relating to the extraction of a mineral substance the well head value of which is subject to the royalty referred to in section 204 of the Mining Act (chapter M-13.1);

(3)  carried out after 17 October 1990 in respect of surface mineral substances as defined in section 1 of the Mining Act, or of mineral substances the rights in or over which have been surrendered to the owner of the soil under section 5 of that Act;

“mining reclamation trust” means a mining reclamation trust, within the meaning assigned by section 21.39 of the Taxation Act (chapter I-3), that is resident in Québec for the purposes of Part I of that Act;

“northern mine” means a mine situated north of the fifty-fifth parallel of north latitude;

“operator” means a person or partnership, other than a joint venture, that performs mining operation work, either alone or with others, or through a mandatary, on land situated in Québec or in a mine he owns, leases or occupies;

“ore” means a mineral substance that may be extracted for the purpose of obtaining a commercial product;

“orebody” means a volume of ore having known physical limits;

“processing” means, with the exception of the primary crushing of a mineral substance and its transportation to an appropriate place for the purpose of processing, any activity involving the crushing, grinding, concentration, smelting or refining of a mineral substance as well as stockpiling activities prior thereto, and includes pelletization, the production of steel powder or steel billets, or any other activity prescribed by regulation;

“processing asset” means a depreciable asset of an operator, used in Québec, other than property used in the operation of a mine tailings site, that is

(1)  the whole or a part of a building in which only processing is carried out by the operator;

(2)  equipment used by the operator almost exclusively for processing; or

(3)  property used by the operator to supply water or electricity to an ore processing plant;

“processing product” means a product, by-product or derivative obtained as a result of the processing of a mineral substance;

“refining” means any processing of a product from a smelting or concentration operation to remove impurities, which produces very high grade metal;

“service property” means property, other than a railroad not situated at the mine, acquired for the purpose of realizing or producing income from a mine and of providing services to the mine or to a townsite in which a large proportion of persons who ordinarily work in the mine reside, if the property is

(1)  an airport, dam, basin, fire station, natural gas pipeline, energy transmission line, wastewater treatment plant, sewer, street lighting network, water main, water pumping station, water supply network, wharf, or similar property;

(2)  a road, sidewalk, runway, parking lot, storage area, or similar surface construction;

(3)  a machine or material accessory to property referred to in paragraph 1 or 2;

“smelting” means any processing of an ore or concentrate wherein the charge is melted and chemically converted to produce a slag and a matte or metal containing impurities.

1975, c. 30, s. 1; 1985, c. 39, s. 1; 1987, c. 64, s. 334; 1994, c. 47, s. 1; 1996, c. 4, s. 1; 1996, c. 39, s. 2.

1996-06-13

1. In this Act,

“amalgamation” means a merger of several legal persons, hereinafter called “predecessor legal persons”, which are replaced to form one legal person hereinafter referred to as the “new legal person”, which is formed otherwise than by the acquisition of property of another legal person or by the distribution of property of another legal person being wound up;

“assessment” means an assessment, a reassessment or an additional assessment;

“concentration” means any processing of ore or mine tailings to separate a mineral substance from its gangue and obtain a concentrate;

“exploration” means all surface work performed for the research and identification of mineral substances in Québec, until a mineral deposit has been delimited, if the work consists in

(1)  geological surveys;

(2)  ground or airborne geophysical surveys;

(3)  photogeological analyses;

(4)  geochemical or biogeochemical surveys;

(5)  soil stripping;

(6)  trenching;

(7)  sampling and analyses;

(8)  diamond drilling, percussion drilling or reverse circulation drilling;

(9)  any other surface work essential to the research and identification of a mineral deposit;

“government assistance” means any direct or indirect assistance from a government, municipality or other public body, whether as a subsidy, premium, forgivable loan, tax deduction, advance, or as any other form of assistance other than assistance excluded by regulation of the Government;

“mine” means an industrial complex situated in Québec, the object of which is the extraction and processing of mineral substances, and which may include an ore processing mill, a laboratory and various infrastructures such as port and rail facilities, and a camp;

“mine development” means all work subsequent to mineral deposit evaluation work, the purpose of which is to bring into production an orebody situated in Québec, if the work consists in

(1)  open pit stripping of overburden and waste rock above an orebody;

(2)  shaft sinking, the excavation of ramps, drifts and raises and other related mine development works, except work performed to make such openings in a mineralized zone, or giving access to a mineralized zone if the total length of the opening is less than 20 metres;

“mineral deposit” means a quantity of mineral substance having known physical limits;

“mineral deposit evaluation” means all work, other than work performed pursuant to a decision to bring an orebody into production, the object of which is the technical and economic evaluation of a mineral deposit for the purpose of identifying an orebody situated in Québec, if the work consists in

(1)  surface exploration work performed to ascertain more precisely the technical and economic parameters of a mineral deposit;

(2)  the excavation of ramps, adits, shafts, drifts, raises and other related works necessary to the underground reserve evaluation of a mineral deposit;

(3)  the underground or surface extraction of a bulk sample and testing in a mill or laboratory to verify drilling results and to determine the optimal conditions for extraction and processing;

(4)  determination of mining extraction and metallurgical technologies;

(5)  technical and economic studies necessary to a decision whether or not to bring an orebody into production;

(6)  any other work essential to the identification of the orebody;

“mineral substance” means any natural mineral substance, whether solid, gaseous or liquid, except water, and includes a fossilized organic substance or mine tailings;

“mining operation” means all work related to the various phases in the mineral development process, namely exploration, mineral deposit evaluation, mine development, the reclamation or rehabilitation of land situated in Québec, the extraction, processing, transportation, handling, storage and marketing of a mineral substance extracted from Québec soil up to the time of its alienation or use by the operator, and the processing of mine tailings from Québec, but does not include work

(1)  performed for others;

(2)  relating to the extraction of a mineral substance the well head value of which is subject to the royalty referred to in section 204 of the Mining Act (chapter M-13.1);

(3)  carried out after 17 October 1990 in respect of surface mineral substances as defined in section 1 of the Mining Act, or of mineral substances the rights in or over which have been surrendered to the owner of the soil under section 5 of that Act;

“northern mine” means a mine situated north of the fifty-fifth parallel of north latitude;

“operator” means a person or partnership, other than a joint venture, that performs mining operation work, either alone or with others, or through a mandatary, on land situated in Québec or in a mine he owns, leases or occupies;

“ore” means a mineral substance that may be extracted for the purpose of obtaining a commercial product;

“orebody” means a volume of ore having known physical limits;

“processing” means, with the exception of the primary crushing of a mineral substance and its transportation to an appropriate place for the purpose of processing, any activity involving the crushing, grinding, concentration, smelting or refining of a mineral substance as well as stockpiling activities prior thereto, and includes pelletization, the production of steel powder or steel billets, or any other activity prescribed by regulation;

“processing asset” means a depreciable asset of an operator, used in Québec, other than property used in the operation of a mine tailings site, that is

(1)  the whole or a part of a building in which only processing is carried out by the operator;

(2)  equipment used by the operator almost exclusively for processing; or

(3)  property used by the operator to supply water or electricity to an ore processing plant;

“processing product” means a product, by-product or derivative obtained as a result of the processing of a mineral substance;

“refining” means any processing of a product from a smelting or concentration operation to remove impurities, which produces very high grade metal;

“service property” means property, other than a railroad not situated at the mine, acquired for the purpose of realizing or producing income from a mine and of providing services to the mine or to a townsite in which a large proportion of persons who ordinarily work in the mine reside, if the property is

(1)  an airport, dam, basin, fire station, natural gas pipeline, energy transmission line, wastewater treatment plant, sewer, street lighting network, water main, water pumping station, water supply network, wharf, or similar property;

(2)  a road, sidewalk, runway, parking lot, storage area, or similar surface construction;

(3)  a machine or material accessory to property referred to in paragraph 1 or 2;

“smelting” means any processing of an ore or concentrate wherein the charge is melted and chemically converted to produce a slag and a matte or metal containing impurities.

1975, c. 30, s. 1; 1985, c. 39, s. 1; 1987, c. 64, s. 334; 1994, c. 47, s. 1; 1996, c. 4, s. 1.

1994-12-21

1. In this Act,

“amalgamation” means a merger of several corporations, hereinafter called “predecessor corporations”, which are replaced to form one corporate entity hereinafter referred to as the “new corporation”, which is formed otherwise than by the acquisition of property of another corporation or by the distribution of property of another corporation being wound up;

“assessment” means an assessment, a reassessment or an additional assessment;

“concentration” means any processing of ore or mine tailings to separate a mineral substance from its gangue and obtain a concentrate;

“exploration” means all surface work performed for the research and identification of mineral substances in Québec, until a mineral deposit has been delimited, if the work consists in

(1)  geological surveys;

(2)  ground or airborne geophysical surveys;

(3)  photogeological analyses;

(4)  geochemical or biogeochemical surveys;

(5)  soil stripping;

(6)  trenching;

(7)  sampling and analyses;

(8)  diamond drilling, percussion drilling or reverse circulation drilling;

(9)  any other surface work essential to the research and identification of a mineral deposit;

“government assistance” means any direct or indirect assistance from a government, municipality or other public body, whether as a subsidy, premium, forgivable loan, tax deduction, or as any other form of assistance other than assistance excluded by regulation of the Government;

“mine” means an industrial complex situated in Québec, the object of which is the extraction and processing of mineral substances, and which may include an ore processing mill, a laboratory and various infrastructures such as port and rail facilities, and a camp;

“mine development” means all work subsequent to mineral deposit evaluation work, the purpose of which is to bring into production an orebody situated in Québec, if the work consists in

(1)  open pit stripping of overburden and waste rock above an orebody;

(2)  shaft sinking, the excavation of ramps, drifts and raises and other related mine development works, except work performed to make such openings in a mineralized zone, or giving access to a mineralized zone if the total length of the opening is less than 20 metres;

“mineral deposit” means a quantity of mineral substance having known physical limits;

“mineral deposit evaluation” means all work, other than work performed pursuant to a decision to bring an orebody into production, the object of which is the technical and economic evaluation of a mineral deposit for the purpose of identifying an orebody situated in Québec, if the work consists in

(1)  surface exploration work performed to ascertain more precisely the technical and economic parameters of a mineral deposit;

(2)  the excavation of ramps, adits, shafts, drifts, raises and other related works necessary to the underground reserve evaluation of a mineral deposit;

(3)  the underground or surface extraction of a bulk sample and testing in a mill or laboratory to verify drilling results and to determine the optimal conditions for extraction and processing;

(4)  determination of mining extraction and metallurgical technologies;

(5)  technical and economic studies necessary to a decision whether or not to bring an orebody into production;

(6)  any other work essential to the identification of the orebody;

“mineral substance” means any natural mineral substance, whether solid, gaseous or liquid, except water, and includes a fossilized organic substance or mine tailings;

“mining operation” means all work related to the various phases in the mineral development process, namely exploration, mineral deposit evaluation, mine development, land reclamation or rehabilitation, the extraction of ore from the soil of Québec including the processing of it which consists in the concentration, smelting or refining of the ore to any stage that is prior to the prime metal stage or its equivalent, and the processing of mine tailings from Québec, but does not include

(1)  work performed for others;

(2)  work relating to mineral substances the well head value of which is subject to the royalty referred to in section 204 of the Mining Act (chapter M-13.1);

(3)  work performed after 17 October 1990 in respect of surface mineral substances as defined in section 1 of the Mining Act, or of mineral substances the rights in or over which have been surrendered to the owner of the soil as provided in section 5 of that Act;

“operator” means a person or partnership, other than a joint venture, that performs mining operation work, either alone or with others, or through a mandatary, on land situated in Québec or in a mine he owns, leases or occupies;

“ore” means a mineral substance that may be extracted for the purpose of obtaining a commercial product;

“orebody” means a volume of ore having known physical limits;

“processing asset” means a depreciable asset of an operator, situated in Québec and used in mining operation, which constitutes the whole or a part of a building in which the operator carries out the concentration, smelting or refining of a mineral substance, and any equipment he uses almost exclusively for those activities, other than property used to transport the mineral substance outside the mine;

“refining” means any processing of a product from a smelting or concentration operation to remove impurities, which produces very high grade metal;

“service property” means property, other than a railroad not situated at the mine, acquired for the purpose of realizing or producing income from a mine and of providing services to the mine or to a townsite in which a large proportion of persons who ordinarily work in the mine reside, if the property is

(1)  an airport, dam, basin, fire station, natural gas pipeline, energy transmission line, wastewater treatment plant, sewer, street lighting network, water main, water pumping station, water supply network, wharf, or similar property;

(2)  a road, sidewalk, runway, parking lot, storage area, or similar surface construction;

(3)  a machine or material accessory to property referred to in paragraph 1 or 2;

“smelting” means any processing of an ore or concentrate wherein the charge is melted and chemically converted to produce a slag and a matte or metal containing impurities.

1975, c. 30, s. 1; 1985, c. 39, s. 1; 1987, c. 64, s. 334; 1994, c. 47, s. 1.

1988-10-24

1. For the purposes of this Act and the regulations,

“assessment” means an assessment, a reassessment and an additional assessment;

“mine” means any opening or excavation made for the purpose of discovering or obtaining any mineral substance, including a quarry, a sand-pit or a well used for maintaining water pressure, for disposing of or injecting water or to create a source of water supply and the ways, works, machinery, mills, buildings and furnaces below or above the surface of lands in which mining is carried on;

“minerals or mineral substances” means any natural mineral substance in solid, gaseous or liquid form, except water, and any fossilized organic matter;

“mining operation” or “mining” means all the work whereby mineral substances are explored for in view of being extracted or extracted for the purpose of obtaining a commercial product;

“operator” means any person who performs, directs, or causes to be performed or directed mining operations in a mine of which he is the owner, lessee or occupant;

“regulation” means a regulation made by the Government by virtue of this Act.

1975, c. 30, s. 1; 1985, c. 39, s. 1; 1987, c. 64, s. 334.

1985-12-19

1. The definitions contained in the Mining Act (chapter M-13) apply to this Act and the regulations, unless the context requires otherwise.

However, for the purposes of this Act and the regulations,

“assessment” means an assessment, a reassessment and an additional assessment;

“mine” means any opening or excavation made for the purpose of discovering or obtaining any mineral substance, including a quarry, a sand-pit or a well used for maintaining water pressure, for disposing of or injecting water or to create a source of water supply and the ways, works, machinery, mills, buildings and furnaces below or above the surface of lands in which mining is carried on;

“mining operation” or “mining” means all the work whereby mineral substances are explored for in view of being extracted or extracted for the purpose of obtaining a commercial product;

“regulation” means a regulation made by the Government by virtue of this Act.

1975, c. 30, s. 1; 1985, c. 39, s. 1.

1977-12-31

1. The definitions contained in the Mining Act (chapter M-13) apply to this act and the regulations, unless the context requires otherwise.

However, for the purposes of this act and the regulations,

(a)  “mining operation” or “mining” means all the work whereby mineral substances are explored for or extracted and treated for the purpose of obtaining a commercial product;

(b)  “mine” means any opening or excavation made for the purpose of discovering or obtaining any mineral substance, including a quarry, a sand-pit or a well used for maintaining water pressure, for disposing of or injecting water or to create a source of water supply and the ways, works, machinery, mills, buildings and furnaces below or above the surface of lands in which mining is carried on;

(c)  “regulation” means a regulation made by the Government by virtue of this act.

1975, c. 30, s. 1.