Capital Allowances Act 2001 section 396

Meaning of "mineral exploration and access"

Section 396 defines what "mineral exploration and access" means for the purposes of the mineral extraction allowances rules, and clarifies how planning permission costs are treated.

• Mineral exploration and access covers searching for, discovering and testing mineral deposits at a source, as well as winning access to those deposits.
• Expenditure on obtaining planning permission needed for mineral exploration and access, or for working mineral deposits, is treated as exploration and access expenditure — not as expenditure on acquiring a mineral asset.
• Seeking planning permission includes the costs of appealing against a refusal to grant planning permission.
• The distinction matters because expenditure classified as mineral exploration and access qualifies for capital allowances under different rules than expenditure on acquiring a mineral asset.