On May 29, 2013, the Quebec Minister of Natural Resources tabled Bill 43 containing proposed amendments to the Mining Act ("Bill 43").
The government is using Bill 43 to introduce new concepts into
Quebec's mining regime. Bill 43 brings substantial changes to
the rules governing the receipt and renewal of claims and mining
leases. It also changes the obligations of holders of claims and
mining leases with respect to the rehabilitation and restoration of
mining sites while increasing the powers of the Minister of Natural
Resources.
Bill 43 draws upon several elements that were proposed in Bill 14
of May 12 2011 ("Bill 14"), notably:
- The obligation of mining claims owners to disclose their intentions to the municipalities and to the owners of the site as well as to produce an annual operations plan;
- The increase of the Minister's power to enable her to act in the public interest by refusing to grant or to renew a lease for the surface mining of mineral substances or by terminating such a lease;
- The reiteration of the Minister's obligation to specifically consult Aboriginal communities; and
- The increase of the financial guarantee that must be provided with respect to the rehabilitation and the restoration of a mining site.
Bill 14 was analyzed in our
Bulletin of May 26 2011.
Although Bill 43 draws upon measures that were previously
contained in Bill 14, it proposes other important amendments to the
Mining Act.
Administrative Measures
Certificate of Authorization: From now on, the
certificate of authorization provided for in the Environmental
Quality Act, must be obtained before a mining lease can be granted.
In addition, the mining site rehabilitation and restoration plan
will have to be approved and registered in the public register of
real and immovable mining rights.
Feasibility Study: In addition to the certificate
of authorization, a feasibility study of the project and of the
mineral processing must accompany any request for renewal of a
lease.
Follow-Up Committee: Within 30 days of receiving a lease, the
tenant will be under obligation to constitute an economic spinoff
monitoring and maximization committee. The committee will monitor
the works stemming from the mining lease so as to maximize
employment, contracts and other economic benefits for the local
communities. The committee will remain active until the
prior-approved rehabilitation and restoration work has been
completed.
Environmental Assessment and Public Consultation:
the construction and operation of a mineral processing plant are
now subject, regardless of the product and the project's
capacity, to an environmental assessment. In addition, after
requesting a lease, the petitioner must submit to a public
consultation hearing in the area concerned. This hearing will be
conducted by the Bureau d'audience publiques sur
l'environement and the Minister may make the lease contingent
on conditions she deems necessary to avoid any conflict raised
during the public hearing.
Subject to the Mining Tax
Act: In order to renew a mining lease, the tenant
will have be in conformity with the provisions of the Mining Tax
Act especially as they pertain to the payment of royalties to the
government.
Communication Measures
Notice to the Municipality: The holder of a
claim must inform the municipality and the owner of the property
within 60 days following the registration of the claim. In
addition, it must inform the municipality of the work that it
wishes to undertake 90 days prior to their start date. The claim
holder must also submit annual reports of the work that has been
executed, as described above, to the relevant municipalities.
Exploration Reports: Claims holders will have to
submit, on the anniversary of the day their claim was granted, a
report to the Minister concerning all the exploration work
conducted during the preceding year. They will also, when filing a
staking or map designation notice, attach a plan of the work to be
undertaken in the coming year. In addition the lifespan of the work
credits will be limited to 12 years.
Uranium Discovery or Prospecting: If the Bill is
passed it will impose new obligations with respect to uranium
prospecting and discovery. A claim holder will have to inform the
Minister of any discovery of a mineral substance containing 0.05%
or more uranium within 60 days of such discovery. In this case it
will have to conform to any additional security measure that the
Minister may impose. All prospecting for minerals containing
uranium, must be authorized by the Minister and a hydrogeological
study will have to be submitted to the Minister prior to a request
for authorization.
Information to be Provided: From now on holders
of mining rights will have to provide more information regarding
processing. On the anniversary of the date on which the lease or
the mining concession was granted, they will have to submit a
report indicating the quantity and the value of the minerals
extracted during the year. They will also have to forward to the
Minister any agreement entered into with a community. The Minister
will make this information available to the public.
Community Measures
Powers of the Municipality: The Bill empowers
municipalities to designate areas that they deem to be incompatible
with mining activity or determine the conditions to which these
activities will be subject. Incompatible territories are defined as
those that would be compromised by the effects of the mining
activity.
Expropriation: From now on, expropriation rights
will be reserved to the holders of mining rights that wish to
proceed to the mining stage. In any other case they must obtain
written authorization to obtain access to a lot or acquire it piece
by piece. However, when it intends to acquire a residential
building, a holder of mining rights must provide financial support
to the owner up to an amount of 10% of the building's market
value. In no event can the holder of a mining right relocate or
destroy the building before receiving a mining lease.
Auction: The Minister will now have the option to reserve certain
claims for public auction. The Minister will establish
mineralization indices and the targeted areas for this public
auction so as to establish anti-collusion mechanisms.
Financial Guarantee: The financial guarantees
that accompany the rehabilitation and restoration plan contained in
Bill 14 have been revived. On this topic we refer you to the
article published on February 21 2013 entitled: "
Quebec tightens rules on financial guarantee requirements for
rehabilitation and restoration plans" on Dentons
Canada's "Securities Mining Blog".
Conclusion
In brief, Bill 43 not only draws upon many amendments previously tabled in Bill 14 but introduces new, more stringent ones notably with respect to the holder of mining claims and the granting of greater powers to municipalities and citizens to express their opinions on mining projects. That said, it is still in bill form with a projected adoption for the fall of 2013. It should be emphasized as well that since 2012 two bills amending the Mining Act have been tabled but have never been passed by the National Assembly. Once again, opposition members, industry experts and other stakeholders are at odds with respect to several amendments contained in Bill 43. We will follow the evolution of this Bill over the coming months.
Click here to download the French version
Click here to download the French version of the Bulletin of May 26, 2011
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