Table of Contents
Understand which early exploration activities and expenses are eligible to receive assessment work credits and learn how to report assessment work in the Mining Lands Administration System (MLAS).
Overview
Assessment work refers to exploration activities that must be done on mining claims every year to maintain the right to explore for minerals and keep a claim in good standing.
Assessment work credits
The costs of assessment work are converted to assessment work credits. These credits can be assigned to a mining claim and allow you to satisfy the annual units of assessment work that must be performed or reported on a mining claim. Credits can be assigned to other claims or other assessment years if certain conditions are met.
Payment in place of assessment work
You may maintain your claim in good standing by making a monetary payment equivalent to the current year’s required assessment work. There are restrictions to how and where you can use payments in place.
Section 5 - O. Reg. 65/18 – payments in place of assessment work.
Distribution of credits
You can distribute approved credits to contiguous mining claims to maintain those claims in good standing.
Guide to distributing approved credits.
There are limits to the amount of assessment work credits that may be distributed from a reserve for a mining claim or for other mining lands to a mining claim at any given time
Section 19 - O. Reg. 65/18 – limits on the distribution of credits.
Eligibility
Certain types of early exploration activities constitute assessment work, and the costs related to those activities are eligible for credits. Examples of work types include:
- grass roots prospecting
- bedrock trenching
- pitting
- overburden stripping and related manual work
- sampling
- airborne and ground survey work
- exploratory drilling and rehabilitation
Other costs and expenses such as certain types of labour costs, contracting fees, food/lodging, equipment rental/transportation, supplies, assays and analyses, and Indigenous consultation may also be eligible for assessment work credits. Check the assessment work regulations for a list of all eligible costs.
Grass roots prospecting
Labour costs for grass roots prospecting can be credited at 200 per cent if certain conditions are met. When submitting your assessment report in MLAS, report your actual costs (100 per cent) and, when approved, the appropriate adjustment will be reflected in accordance with section 13 of O. Reg. 65/18.
Technical standards for reporting assessment work
Assessment work must be reported to the ministry and follow technical standards applicable to the type of work that you are reporting and claiming. The technical report must include a detailed explanation of the geoscience work, maps or plans (where required), and details of the expenses claimed for the work, together with supporting receipts, invoices and other documents.
Technical standards for reporting assessment work [PDF]
Filing an assessment work report
You must submit assessment work reports through the Mining Lands Administration System (MLAS). Once your assessment report is approved, credits go into the reserves of the mining lands on which the work was performed.
You may also appoint an assessment work manager in MLAS to perform certain functions on your behalf.
Guide to filing an assessment work report
Pending distributions
If claims from your report are due in the next 90 days, consider submitting a pending distribution along with your assessment work report.
When should a pending distribution be submitted? [PDF]
If you have submitted a pending distribution with your work report, your report may be approved with changes made to where the work was reported or to the value of the work. You have 15 days from the time of notification to amend the pending distribution to keep claims in good standing.
Section 20 - O. Reg. 65/18 – Pending distributions
Get email updates
- Subscribe to our MLAS update bulletins to receive email updates about mining lands and MLAS.
- See all MLAS update bulletins
Contact us
If you need help with processing your assessment work report in MLAS:
- call us Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST at 1-888-415-9845 (choose option 1 for the Provincial Recording Office).
- email us at pro.ndm@ontario.ca