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The Mineral Resources Act has now passed the legislature! To get an idea of the key policies it intends to achieve, click here. For the legislation as-passed, click here.
It was drafted with consideration for all feedback received through public and stakeholder engagement, research by the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment, and conversations with partners from Indigenous governments and Organizations.
The Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment has produced an extensive collection of informational material to help understand what is being proposed, the basics of how that could look in practice, and the reasons why those policies were chosen.
The folder titled "Understanding the Proposed Mineral Resources Act" to the right has a series of eight PDFsContinue reading
It was drafted with consideration for all feedback received through public and stakeholder engagement, research by the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment, and conversations with partners from Indigenous governments and Organizations.
The Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment has produced an extensive collection of informational material to help understand what is being proposed, the basics of how that could look in practice, and the reasons why those policies were chosen.
The folder titled "Understanding the Proposed Mineral Resources Act" to the right has a series of eight PDFs covering the policy intentions of the legislation, and how it fits within the Northwest Territories' larger legal framework.
If you wish to view this information online instead, follow this link.
Environmental aspects of mining are largely regulated through the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act, and other applicable federal and territorial statutes.
However, the development of a new Mineral Resources Act offers a chance
to address gaps in these environmental protections to complement these laws.
What gaps do you see which could be addressed with new legislation?
Prospecting and exploration are the activities which can ultimately lead to mining. Some jurisdictions in Canada offer incentives through tax rebates, subsidies, grants, or temporarily relaxed work requirements to qualifying mining companies and prospectors to encourage exploration.
The Northwest Territories currently offers two such programs:
Mining is currently the single-largest industry contributing to the NWT economy. In 2016, it contributed $637 million to the NWT economy and directly employed more than 1000 NWT residents.
How important are these jobs in the mining industry to a prosperous economy for the Northwest Territories?
What is staking?
Staking is the process where a person marks out an area of land where they want to explore for minerals.
How is it done currently?A person must put up four corner posts each with a separate mineral claim tag affixed to it with important data etched on the tag. Boundary posts must also be erected every 500 meters and witness posts may be used in lieu of legal corner posts due to dangerous terrain or water.
The claimant must submit the application to record along with a sketch
outlining the property not later than 60 days from completion of the staking
process.
What challenges does this present?
A potential for conflicting claims if two people attempt to stake the same area in whole or in part at the same time.
There are four provinces in Canada that have moved to an online system. There are two more moving toward the online system.
This engagement is open for contributions. The deadline for engagement submissions is December 1, 2017.
Contributions to this engagement are closed for evaluation and review. The Project team will report back on key outcomes.
The final outcomes of the engagement are documented here. This may include a summary of all contributions collected as well as recommendations for future action.
The Mineral Resources Act has been introduced as a Bill in the Legislative Assembly.