Ontario’s new Act sparks concern for survival

Under discussion for years, amendments to Ontario’s Mining Act known as Bill 71 were passed by the legislature Dec. 6, 1990, and became effective June 3 this year. Some of the changes it calls for were long overdue, but others are controversial and will almost certainly prove costly to the industry.

Basically, the amendments fall into three main areas:

claim staking and prospecting

assessment work

operation of mines (Part IX) which deals with advanced exploration, mine production, closure, rehabilitation and financial assurances.

With today’s mining industry more competitive and global than ever before, and with exploration and new mine development in Ontario already at a low ebb, this new act will do nothing to stem the current exodus of its mine seekers to other lands and climes.

Recently The Northern Miner interviewed a cross section of authorities regarding this latest and important development. Their comments:

Patrick Reid, president, Ontario Mining Association From the point of view of the producing mines, Part IX of this new act is very critical. It provides that before production can commence, the operator must submit a proposed closure plan requiring the company to provide financial assurance that it will be able to shut down in an environmentally and safe manner.

This assurance must be in the form of cash, a letter of credit from the bank named in Schedule A to the Bank Act, or another form of security acceptable to the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines. It also calls for the appointment of rehabilitation inspectors and deals with existing projects.

Within 90 days of June 3, existing producers, or a mine from which production is temporarily suspended, must give notice in writing to the director of rehabilitation containing prescribed information after which a mine closure plan must be submitted.

Generally, most of the amendments have been positive as the Act badly needed updating. A positive aspect is that the new regulations will now be administered by this one department rather than spread among the ministries of natural resources, labor and the environment.

There are, of course, some concerns about certain of its requirements, particularly in relation to Part IX. There is no doubt that there will be substantial costs involved both in holding claims and the Part IX requirements.

Perhaps more troubling is the increasing regulatory burden of the ministries of labor, natural resources, and environment.

Altogether, this regulatory and fiscal burden is making Ontario mining companies less competitive, and Ontario a less attractive place to invest.

Fenton Scott, president, Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada The mining exploration industry in Ontario faces a severe challenge in its job of discovering the mineral wealth it needs so desperately. There is no shortage of scapegoats for this current dearth of activity.

Decisions made in Ottawa, such as manipulating our currency so high that we rush to borrow (and shop) abroad, don’t help the miner whose prices are set in foreign currency.

The refusal by the federal and provincial governments to set stern priorities for the preservation of our ecology doesn’t help either. It’s easy for Queen’s Park to make an example of a distant spill of inert mine tailings. A decision to make the waters around Toronto fit for drinking or swimming is several orders tougher.

Ottawa’s decision to raise taxes at the start of a depression didn’t leave the people of Ontario with much loose change to go prospecting. The Ontario Prospectors Assistance Program is an excellent low-cost device to help kick-start some mineral exploration, but for this year that well has run dry.

P.H. McCloskey, chairman, Matachewan Cons. Mines

Editor’s note: What could prove to be a test case that is sending shivers through Ontario’s mining industry is that of the responsibility for a spill that released tons of old mine tailings into the Montreal River last October. Maintaining that it is not only the companies that are involved, the director of the Ontario Ministry of the Environment has served orders against their chief executive officers.

Matachewan Consolidated Mines and its two senior officers have been wrongly accused by the Ontario government of causing a tailings disaster. They have been officially ordered to clean up and monitor the situation indefinitely, without benefit of a hearing or proper authority determining who is at fault. Costs are already reported to be in the millions of dollars.

R.E. Niels, secretary-manager, Canadian Diamond Drilling Association

The severe decline in diamond drilling is the direct result of an almost total cessation of mineral exploration. In 1988 it was difficult to find a drill that was not committed; today it is difficult to find one working.

It is high time that the federal and provincial governments stop placating the vocal minority and start addressing the problem of restrictive land use, settle native land claim issues and remind the environmental extremists that the high standard of living we have achieved in this country stems in no small way from the development of the great mineral wealth we have been blessed with.

Should the mining industry, government and anti-development groups not develop the necessary dialogue to solve their apparent differences, Canada will be the loser and I can foresee the day when this country will be knocking on other nations’ doors for foreign aid.