Ontario’s new Mining Act approved by legislature

“After 73 years, Ontario now has a new Mining Act just in time for the 1990s,” said provincial Mines Minister Hugh O’Neil. The previous Act, which dates back to 1906, will remain in effect until the new Act and related regulations are proclaimed, probably sometime in the second half of 1990.

Two provisions of the new Act, however, took effect upon receiving Royal assent. They both relate to measures regarding security of tenure that deem a mineral claim to be in compliance with the Act after one year if no dispute has been raised.

O’Neil was speaking to a crowd of about 300 as the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy’s Hamilton lecturer at a luncheon to kick off the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines’ annual mines and minerals symposium in Toronto.

The new Act “clearly states that we are prepared to support our vital mining industry with the enlightened policies and regulations needed to maintain Ontario’s leading role as a mineral producer,” he said.

One key change in the legislation since the Bill received second reading came in response to concerns over lease rental rates expressed by the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (N.M., Dec 4/89).

A $1,000 annual rental rate has been proposed compared with the current $20, although the final rate will be determined by regulations during the next six months. The PDAC felt this significantly higher rate amounts to “confiscation by taxation.”

The minister says the higher rental rates were designed as a deterrent to lease holders who keep the claims in good standing without conducting further assessment work.

The Act addresses the PDAC’s concerns by allowing leases or patents to be converted to unpatented mining claims at any time. Those claims can then be kept in good standing by conducting assessment work. In other words, lease holders can forego the higher rental rate by converting the property to claim status and then conducting assessment work.

The amount of assessment work required to keep the claims in good standing will be measured in dollars spent rather than man-hours worked. The expenditures required will be established by regulation, but they will likely be less than the proposed rental rates.

“I think these changes deliver a clear message,” said O’Neil. “We want to see the land worked or turned over to someone who will work it.”

O’Neil was the tenth Hamilton lecturer for the Toronto branch of the CIM. The lectures were established by SNC/GECO, now the SNC Group, in 1980 as a tribute to Robert and Philip Hamilton for their contribution to the Canadian mining industry.

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