Capital Allowances Act 2001

400 Qualifying expenditure on mineral exploration and access

(1) Expenditure on mineral exploration and access is qualifying expenditure if—

(a) it is capital expenditure, and

(b) it is incurred for the purposes of a mineral extraction trade.

(2) Expenditure on mineral exploration and access incurred by a person in connection with a mineral extraction trade which that person carries on then or subsequently is to be treated as incurred for the purposes of that trade.

(3) But pre-trading expenditure on mineral exploration and access is qualifying expenditure only to the extent provided by—

• section 401 (pre-trading exploration expenditure), or

• section 402 (pre-trading expenditure on plant or machinery).

(4) Any pre-trading expenditure that is qualifying expenditure under either of those sections is to be treated as incurred on the first day of trading.

(5) In this Chapter—

(a) “pre-trading expenditure” means capital expenditure incurred before the day on which a person begins to carry on a mineral extraction trade, and

(b) “the first day of trading”, in relation to a person’s pre-trading expenditure, means the day on which that person begins to carry on the mineral extraction trade.