quarterly explorer2016/02/02 · newsletter of the nevada mineral exploration coalition february...
TRANSCRIPT
Page 1
IN THIS ISSUE
The Feds Land Grab……….p.2
NMEC at Roundup………...p.3
Coalition at PDAC………...p.4
Update on Carson City District
RMP……………………… p.5
Tax Changes ……..……pp. 6-7
Note on Claim Fees………..p7
Upcoming Events ………... p.8
Newsletter of the Nevada Mineral Exploration Coalition February 2016 Vol. 3 Issue 1
QUARTERLY EXPLORER
UPCOMING EVENT
PDAC 2016
Toronto, CA March 6 - 9 This year the NMEC will be in a
display booth in the trade show at the
PDAC in Toronto from March 6th to
9th, 2016.
See page 4 for further information TAX CODE CHANGES FOR
NEVADA EXPLORATION
BUSINESSES
By Dave Shaddrick, President NMEC
Many of you likely have questions concerning tax rate
changes that occurred during the 2015 Nevada Legislative
Session and how the newly instituted Commerce Tax
may impact you and your exploration business. The tax
changes passed by the 2015 Legislature which went into
effect July 2015 are summarized on pages 6 and 7 .
THE FEDS GRAB LAND FOR GREATER SAGE GROUSE
For two years beginning September 24, 2015, you have
lost the right to start new exploration projects within an
area of Nevada larger than Eureka County... (full editorial
by Richard Knox on page 2)
UPDATE ON CARSON CITY RMP
Do you remember, nearly a year ago, preparing comments
to submit to the Carson City District BLM office about
their draft Resource Management Plan update? What’s
happening? Full article on page 5.
NMEC LOSES A FRIEND
On Sunday, February 21, State Senator Debbie Smith lost
her life to cancer, and the NMEC lost a tireless advocate
of Nevada’s exploration industry. Continued on page 8..
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Quarterly Explorer Newsletter of the Nevada Mineral Exploration Coalition
For two years beginning September
24, 2015, you have lost the right to
start new exploration projects
within an area (see red on map) of
Nevada larger than Eureka County.
Over a six-state region of the West
it adds up to 10 million acres. The
Department of Interior proposes to
lock you out forever in the name of
the greater sage grouse.
Letters to Interior from your
Coalition, companies and individuals
cite reasons the Sagebrush Focal
Areas (SFA) mineral withdrawal is
not warranted (and harmful) and
recommend novel and effective
strategies for better protecting the
bird from its real threats: fire and
invasive species l ike cheatgrass.
When Interior's withdrawal draft
Environmental Impact Statement
comes out, you will get another
chance to speak out.
Because the cancer of mineral
withdrawals is spreading fast, this is
no time for spectators. Your future
is at risk. Every explorer, miner,
supplier and service company is
called to oppose this and other land
grabs in Nevada and the West. Your
vo i ce i s needed . By s tand ing
together and remaining vigi lant,
perhaps we can avert exploration
and mining being penned into
shrinking enclaves by governmental
whim.
THE FEDS GRAB LAND FOR GREATER SAGE GROUSE by Richard Knox
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Quarterly Explorer Newsletter of the Nevada Mineral Exploration Coalition
For the second consecutive year, NMEC
hosted the Nevada Room for the four-
day AME BC Roundup meeting in
Vancouver, British Columbia. The
Nevada Room was again located next to
the long established Yukon and British
Columbia rooms, which provided the
Nevada Room and NMEC improved
visibility.
As in the past, display tables lined the
walls with maps and information on
Nevada, NMEC member vendor
services, and NMEC member company
property information. Several meeting
tables were available for all to use with
coffee and tea provided throughout each
day.
The room had more traffic this year and
the meeting tables were well utilized.
There was increased interest in Nevada
projects and companies, with several
visitors returning from last year’s
Nevada Room to discuss our State’s
projects in more detail.
Many thanks go to the generous
sponsors and supporters of the
Nevada Room:
Gold Sponsors:
Nevada Division of Minerals,
Enviroscientists, Inc. and Wilson &
Associates
Bronze Sponsors:
Hunsaker Inc., Drift Exploration and
Nevada Exploration Inc.
Copper Sponsors:
Almadex Minerals Limited, Carlin
Trend Mining Services, Eric and Debra
Struhsacker, Childs Geoscience Inc.
and Kinetic Gold Corp., Geotemps,
Inc./Geopros, Inc,.
Supporters:
Randy Henkle and Desert Ventures
Inc.
NMEC AGAIN HOSTS NEVADA ROOM AT ROUNDUP IN VANCOUVER by Steve Green
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Quarterly Explorer Newsletter of the Nevada Mineral Exploration Coalition
THE COALITION AT PROSPECTORS AND DEVELOPER’S ASSOCIATION OF CANADA (PDAC)
Toronto, CA March 6 - 9, 2016
This year the NMEC will be in a display booth in the
trade show at the PDAC in Toronto from March 6th
to 9th, 2016. We will be in the North Building,
Booth #6502 and we hope to become a focal point
for all things Nevada. If you are in Toronto for any
reason, come by the booth and catch up on what
we’re doing.
Our goal with this effort is to raise awareness of the
importance of Nevada in the world of mineral
exploration and to encourage both participation and
investment in Nevada’s exploration industry. The
Geological Society of Nevada, The Nevada Division
of Minerals, the Nevada Mining Association and the
Governor’s Office of Economic Development will be
part of this effort (See letter at right from
GOED). Additionally, of course, we will be helping
with membership sign-up and information.
We hope to be a place for networking and linking up
with friends, colleagues, clients and prospects. We
will make “Meet me at Nevada” a common and
well understood networking tool.
For sponsorship information, please visit the NMEC
website.
PROMOTIONAL OPPORTUNITY FROM GOVERNOR’S OFFICE OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Good Day Nevada Explorer,
We may have already met but let me introduce
myself. I’m Sheldon Mudd, Mining Industry
Specialist with the Governor’s Office of Economic
Development (GOED).
Currently I’m in the process of putting together an
investment portfolio that highlights Nevada
Exploration companies. My intention is to use this
portfolio as a tool that can be presented to
possible investors during GOED’s various foreign
and domestic trade missions.
Ultimately I see the portfolio as a collection of
“one pagers”, each representing a single company/
project and highlighting what makes that specific
entity worth investing in (experience, track record,
unique technology, diverse mineral focus, etc.).
What it boils down to is free marketing! If you’d
like to see your company included please contact
me as soon as possible with any details that are
relevant to this project. If you have any questions
my information is below, I look forward to hearing
from you.
Regards,
Sheldon Mudd
Mining Industry Specialist
Governor's Office of Economic Development
1500 College Parkway, McMullen Hall, #103 Elko,
NV 89801
Office: (775) 738-6075
Mobile: (775) 600-3548
Fax: (775) 738-7978
www.diversifynevada.com
NMEC at PDAC during 2015 Conference
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Quarterly Explorer Newsletter of the Nevada Mineral Exploration Coalition
UPDATE ON CARSON CITY DISTRICT RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN
by Elizabeth Zbinden
For further detailed information about the draft RMP, including letters and maps submitted in response by NMEC members,
please visit this page on the NMEC website.
Do you remember, nearly a year ago, preparing comments
to submit to the Carson City District BLM office about
their draft Resource Management Plan update? What’s
happening?
The BLM is still in its long ‘rewrite’ phase, to come up with
one proposed final Resource Management Plan. I spoke
with Colleen Sievers, the Project Manager for this job (and I
don’t envy her job!). She told me the team has taken the
30,000+ comments we and our buddies submitted, and
sorted them into the various issues to be addressed.
Responses to those issues are being used to “adjust the
document”.
They also need to incorporate the issues from the Bi-State
Population Sage Grouse rulings. They have pretty much
come up with their proposed plan and now must “develop
the analysis”, after which the plan undergoes layers of
review: district, state, federal. Her best guess at this point
is that the proposed Resource Management Plan will be
released May or June of this year.
Recall that after this document is released, there will 30
days for the public to protest and 60 days for the two
governors (Sandoval and Brown) to review it. BLM will
need to respond to those protests. The Summer 2016
timeline for final Record Of Decision seems optimistic to
me.
Rumors (not from Ms. Sievers) suggest that there have
been substantial changes from the original five alternatives.
Thank you to everyone who submitted comments. I have
hope that our combined effort has had the desired effect
and that the changes will be good news for us.
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Quarterly Explorer Newsletter of the Nevada Mineral Exploration Coalition
State Business License
The current $200 State annual business
license fee is increased to $500 for domestic
and foreign corporations. All other Nevada
businesses stay at an annual fee of $200,
however, filings of initial and annual lists with
the Secretary of State’s office are all increased
by $25.
The Modified Business Tax
(MBT) or Payroll Tax
The health care deduction is continued,
however, the rate for the MBT general
business is increased to 1.475 % and the wage
threshold for purposes of determining tax
liability is reduced to the amount of quarterly
wages paid over $50,000.
If you do not meet the $50,000 threshold, you
cannot carry over any unused portion of the
$50,000. Finally, businesses receive a credit of
50 % of the Commerce tax against the MBT
(see below).
The Commerce Tax
There are 26 industry/business classifications
and one catchall classification and one tax rate
per classification. The tax is paid annually and
the first $4 million of annual gross revenue is
exempt from this tax.
Throughout last summer and fall, I have been
in touch with the Nevada Department of
Taxation seeking guidance from them as to
how the Commerce Tax applies to venture
capital investments from out of state and
which NAICS (North American Industrial
Categorization System) category mineral
exploration is in to determine the industry’s
Commerce Tax rate if your business exceeds
$4 million annually in gross revenue.
The Nevada Department of Taxation offers
the following general guidance to our industry:
Does the definition of
“revenue” include venture
capital investment in
Research and development
activities?
Answer:
Section 8(3) of SB 483 provides for the
exclusions from the definition of the revenue
for the purposes of the Commerce Tax.
Namely, the section 8(3)(d) of SB 483 states:
“the term [revenue] does not include… the
amounts realized from a transaction subject
to, described in, or equivalent to section
118… 721… of the Internal Revenue Code,
26 U.S.C…”
The aforementioned IRC sections refer to the
contributions to the capital of a corporation
and the contributions to a partnership
respectfully, and, generally, provide for no gain
TAX CODE CHANGES (continued…)
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Quarterly Explorer Newsletter of the Nevada Mineral Exploration Coalition
or loss recognition treatment for such
contributions. Therefore, the amounts
contributed, for instance, to a corporation’s
capital [except for the contributions in aid of
construction] will be excluded from the
definition of “revenue” for the Commerce Tax.
Please note, the section 8(3)(g) may also be
pertinent in the decision whether the amounts
obtained as a venture capital represent the
revenue for the Commerce Tax purposes.
Which NAICS code should be
used for research and
development corporations
and/or for mineral
exploration?
Answer:
The NAICS code for the research and
development corporations is 541712 (code 54
for the Commerce Tax purposes): http://
www.na ics .com/na ics -code-descr ipt ion/ ?
code=541712
The NAICS code for mineral exploration
depends on the types of minerals being explored,
but generally starts with 21**** (code 21 for
Commerce Tax purposes).
The easiest way to find a NAICS code is to use
the NAICS Keyword Search feature at http://
www.census.gov/eos/www/naics and then select
the corresponding category (first 2 or 3 digits of
NAICS code) in the Commerce Tax table at
http :/ / tax.nv.gov/uploadedFi les/taxnvgov/
Content/FAQs/Commerce_Tax_FAQs.pdf to
determine the tax rate.
** Please note, if a business entity is engaged
in more than one business activity, the NAICS
code is determined by the business activity in
which the highest percentage of the Nevada
gross revenue is generated. (Section 15 of SB
483).
In case you missed it in the last GSN
newsletter, the Nevada Division of Minerals has
been holding workshops in Carson City and
Elko to discuss and take comment on changes
to regulations pertaining to the Abandoned
Mine Lands Program. These changes include an
increase of $1.50 per claim in the mining claim
filing fee you pay in the counties each year.
Further Information is available at
http://minerals.nv.gov/.
We are continuing to monitor these
developments and will notify you when further
details are available.
UPDATE ON NEVADA
DIVISION OF
MINERALS CLAIM
FEE INCREASE
Upcoming Events:
March 6 - 9, 2016 Prospectors and Developer’s Association of Canada
(PDAC) Toronto, Canada
Fall 2016 (Dates TBA) Annual Great Basin Rendezvous - September 16 - 18
Lamoille, NV
General Meeting - October
About the NMEC
The Nevada Mineral
Exploration Coalition
(NMEC) is a not-for-profit,
nonpartisan coalition of
small businesses and
individuals engaged in, or
in support of, mineral
exploration and
development activities in
the State.
Contact Us
To join as a member, to re-
new your membership, or to
learn more about the NMEC,
please visit us on the web at
www.nvmec.org
NMEC
P.O. Box 1734
Elko, NV 89803
Page 8
Quarterly Explorer Newsletter of the Nevada Mineral Exploration Coalition
NEVADA LOSES A STATESWOMAN AND NMEC
LOSES A FRIEND
On Sunday, February 21, State Senator Debbie Smith lost her life to cancer. Most of us
know Debbie from her long and prestigious service in the state legislature, first as an
assemblywoman and then as a leader in the state senate. As a fellow claim holder, she
understood the value of Nevada’s mineral exploration industry and was a tireless
advocate on our behalf.
She was a dear friend to many of us and will be greatly missed. Please keep her family
in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.
Left to Right: Senator Debbie Smith, David Shaddrick, Jonathan
Price and Dennis Bryan pause for a photo during the 2013 Nevada
Legislative Session with the official state proclamation recognizing
the contributions made by Nevada’s mineral exploration industry to
the state and its local communities.