An expansion of the province's Targeted Mineral Exploration Incentive (TMEI) was announced today as the province aims to encourage more early-stage exploration activities in the mining sector.
Since 2018, the TMEI program has provided financial assistance in the form of a grant to exploration companies that undertake eligible drilling activities. With the province's expansion, the program will cover a wider range of exploration activities, including ground-based and borehole geophysical surveys and important pre-sampling tasks like core logging.
The province hopes the changes will increase program uptake and enable more exploration for critical and emerging minerals. The changes are specifically aimed at helping out smaller companies looking to raise capital for exploration activities.
"TMEI has been key to diversifying Saskatchewan's mining sector by promoting drilling on hard rock mineral exploration projects," said Energy and Resources Minister Colleen Young. "These changes will help us achieve our goals set out in Saskatchewan's Critical Minerals Strategy, specifically, increasing Saskatchewan's share of Canadian mineral exploration spending to 15 per cent and doubling the number of critical minerals produced in Saskatchewan, all by 2030."
The expansion is being done to support new mineral discoveries and diversify the mining sector. Saskatchewan is searching for expansions in its helium, lithium, copper and zinc production, with continued growth in the uranium and potash sectors.
"Expanding TMEI funding to include additional generative, early-stage exploration activities will help identify more drill targets, attracting greater investor interest and capital to Saskatchewan," said Saskatchewan Mining Association President Pam Schwann. "The collaborative partnership between government and industry exemplifies why Saskatchewan is a premier exploration and mining destination."
In the 2024-25 period, 27 exploration projects were approved for $1.9 million in TMEI funding, with companies spending a total of $76.5 million on these projects. Since 2018, 96 projects have received $5.9 million in TMEI funding, resulting in 926 exploration drill holes and $172.5 million in total project expenditures.