Talon Metals Corp. (TSX:TLO, OTC:TLOFF) announced that its chief external affairs officer and head of climate strategy Todd Malan was selected to lead the public testimony during the US Treasury’s public hearing on Section 45X Advanced Manufacturing Production Tax Credit for Critical Minerals held on Thursday.
Section 45X of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is a production credit that aims to incentivize investments in the full manufacturing supply chain for clean energy systems.
It includes tax credits for specific critical minerals including nickel, cobalt and platinum group metals which Talon highlighted were present in the high-grade ores that the company plans to extract at its Tamarack project in Minnesota.
The 45X production tax credit for critical minerals is equal to 10% of the annual production cost of producing the specific element to a certain level of purity.
The hearing held on Thursday was seeking input from experts and stakeholders on whether the “production cost” calculation should include the cost of raw materials to be consistent with Congress’ intent.
Talon believes that only the cost of extraction of such minerals in their raw form occurring in the US or its possessions should qualify for the 45X tax credit in calculating the cost of production of the mineral.
During the hearing, Malan shared Talon’s “Buy American” perspective on how the 45X tax credit for critical minerals was intended by Congress to support domestic mineral extraction.
“We shared two proposals that we think respond to the Treasury Department's concerns about foreign-sourced minerals qualifying for a domestic production incentive. If our proposals are adopted, they will provide long-term financial support to the domestic production of eligible critical minerals like nickel,” Malan said in a statement.
"As the IRA's support for secure supply chains in critical minerals is being challenged by Chinese oversupply of these minerals which is driving down prices, a comprehensive 45X tax credit that includes extraction of raw materials from the geology of the United States would be very timely support for the critical mineral supply chain."
Talon Metals is a TSX-listed base metals company in a joint venture with Rio Tinto on the high-grade Tamarack nickel-copper-cobalt project located in central Minnesota.