SR&ED for mining & metallurgy
Mining and metallurgy do more SR&ED than they claim, and it's almost always on the processing side rather than in the ground. Getting difficult ore to give up its value, or a process to hold up at scale, often involves exactly the uncertainty the credit is for.
Finding and producing isn't SR&ED. Solving a genuine technological problem to do it better can be.
3-day trial · no card · AI included, no setup
Where the eligible work usually is
- Developing or adapting a processing route where recovery, grade or throughput couldn't be predicted in advance.
- Handling ore variability or a difficult feedstock with no established method that worked for your material.
- Novel extraction, leaching or separation where the outcome was genuinely uncertain.
- Scaling a bench or lab result to pilot or plant, where the scale-up itself introduced real unknowns.
What usually doesn't qualify
Routine production and operations, standard exploration and drilling, applying an established flowsheet, and ordinary grade estimation generally aren't SR&ED. Extracting known value with known methods is the business of mining, not experimental development, however large or difficult the operation is.
Evidence from the test work
Metallurgical work leaves records a claim can rely on: bench and pilot-plant test work, assays, recovery and grade data, reagent and process trials, and the reports behind them. Upload them and SREDlog organizes them against the project, keeping each claimed cost tied to the test run that supports it.
Frequently asked questions
Generally not. Finding and delineating a deposit is the business of mining, not advancing technology. Developing a new way to process or recover the material can be eligible.
It can, where the pilot is resolving a genuine uncertainty about whether and how a process will work at scale, rather than confirming a known result.
Test-work reports, assays, recovery data and process-trial records are strong contemporaneous evidence. See documentation requirements.
Claim the metallurgy behind the recovery
Start a free trial and turn your test work and pilot data into a defensible SR&ED claim.
3-day free trial · No credit card required
This guide is general information, not tax advice. SR&ED rules, rates and limits change, so confirm the current figures with the CRA or your advisor before you file.