Update on the Canada Mining Regulations Amendments

March 2006

In 2004, two separate packages were created in order to expedite the legislative process to amend the Canada Mining Regulations: one package on the royalty and leasing provisions and the second on the mineral tenure along with the Schedules. The Department of Justice drafters are working on finalizing the draft for the first package of proposed amendments that went to consultation in June, 2005. Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC), in conjunction with legal advisors and Department of Justice drafters, is continuing to work on the mineral tenure package.

The first package will amend the royalty and leasing provisions in sections 62 to 69 of the Canada Mining Regulations, along with related provisions. These amendments primarily affect administrative matters and deal with the clarification of existing provisions, changes related to the insolvency legislation and royalty allocation for mines on a combination of Crown and Aboriginal owned land. INAC anticipates pre-publishing these amendments in Part I of the Canada Gazette for final public comment this spring, with the aim of having these sections of the regulations come into force before the end of the summer 2006.

The second package of amendments will principally deal with the modernization of the mineral tenure system, Schedule II (work reporting requirements) and the changes to Schedule I (fees). It will also incorporate changes brought forth with the implementation of comprehensive land claim settlements in the Northwest Territories. The changes to Schedule I reflect the conversion of all measurements in the regulations from imperial into metric and do not increase fees. In order to prepare for devolution and to take into account the legislative differences between NWT and Nunavut, INAC will propose that this second package of amendments create separate mining regulations for each territory under the Territorial Lands Act. The existing "Canada Mining Regulations" would be replaced by two separate sets of federal regulations, the "NWT Mining Regulations" and the "Nunavut Mining Regulations".

INAC is working towards a draft of this second package of amendments to be ready for distribution for public comment in the late summer so that these amendments can go for pre-publication in the Canada Gazette in the fall 2006. The process will be longer for the second package due to the fact that fees are subject to the User Fees Act (brought into force in 2004) and therefore will be reviewed by a Standing Committee of Parliament, as well as Treasury Board.

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