For the past four years, Québec, located in the northeastern part of North America, has been rated the most attractive jurisdiction in Canada for mineral exploration investment, according to the Fraser Institute's survey. Québec ranked 1^st worldwide in 2001-2002, 2^nd in 2002-2003, 4^th in 2003-2004 and 3^rd in 2004-2005 for its exploration investment attractiveness.

First of all, Québec has tremendous mineral potential, as indicated by the presence of several world-class ore deposits. Consisting of 90% Precambrian rocks, it is renowned for its precious and base metal production, namely for gold, copper, nickel and zinc. Moreover, Québec is the world’s second largest producer of niobium and titanium slag, and is also the world’s largest exporter of aluminium, and the second for magnesium.

One of most explored territories in the world

Québec’s territory is vast and open to exploration as recent diamond, base metal and precious metal discoveries indicate. Exploration in established mining camps continues to yield very promising results, the latest example being a major discovery of base and precious metal mineralization at the LaRonde mine in the Abitibi region. Active mining titles cover less than 5% of Québec’s surface area. Thus, vast expanses of land have yet to be explored in detail.

The government wants to attract new investments to develop Québec’s mineral wealth, from the Far North to the U.S. border, and invites companies from abroad to come discover its true potential.

Mining regime

As opposed to what may be common practice in other states, the mining regime in Québec is based on the principle of free mining, which provides universal access to the resource. Thus, the first to obtain a mining title automatically obtains the exclusive right to search for mineral substances and the assurance of obtaining a mining lease upon request.

Mining tax system

Québec's mining taxation system is one of the most advantageous in Canada, featuring one of the lowest taxation rates, and a 12% credit on duties refundable for losses for exploration, deposit appraisal and mine development activities that is unique in Canada. In addition, Québec offers businesses having establishments and that carry on activities in Québec a refundable tax credit for mineral exploration activities, covering up to 45% of exploration expenditure. Québec also supports the industry at each stage of its development, from discovery through processing.

Expertise and know-how

Québec's strengths include not only its raw materials, but also its highly-trained workforce, its training facilities and its specialized research centres. Québec is a world leader in the collection and processing of geo-scientific data, and its spatial reference database Sigeom is unique in its category. In addition to reducing the time needed to obtain data, Sigéom can make an exceptional contribution to the decision-making process.

Infrastructures Highly-developed road and rail networks. Three international airports. Several sea ports with access to the Atlantic Ocean. Abundant, competitively priced energy.