Regulation - Minister
A proposal to amend various regulations under the Mining Act
Regulation Number(s):
O. Reg 240/00
O. Reg 66/18
O. Reg 454/17
O. Reg 66/18
O. Reg 454/17
Instrument Type:
Regulation - Minister
Bill or Act:
The Mining Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. M. 14
Summary of Proposal:
The Ministry of Energy, Northern Development and Mines is proposing the following regulatory amendments/revocations:
1. O. Reg. 240/00, including the Mine Rehabilitation Code came into force in June 2000. The Mine Rehabilitation Code requires that all persons engaged in the design, construction, maintenance and decommissioning of tailings dams and other containment structures give due regard to the procedures and requirements in the "Dam Safety Guidelines" published by the Canadian Dam Association.
The Mine Rehabilitation Code does not provide for updating to the most recent version of the Dam Safety Guidelines. This means the Dam Safety Guidelines that were in place in June 2000 are the ones that apply.
This proposed amendment would seek to amend the Mine Rehabilitation Code in O. Reg. 240/00 to refer to the most recent version of the Dam Safety Guidelines. Doing so will provide greater certainty and clarity on the revised standards.
2. Adhering to the Mining Act and regulations can be a burden to clients. To reduce possible burdens to clients when managing mining claims on the MLAS, and to provide more flexibility to manage their mining lands, the following amendments are being proposed to the Mining Claims Regulation (O. Reg. 66/18):
a. Merger and Amalgamation Mining Claims
Proposal to amend subsections 3(4)(d) and 4(4)(f) of to allow claim holders to merge or amalgamate their mining claims that have a common plan or permit.
b. Mining Claim Disputes
Section 48 of the Mining Act relates to the dispute of a registered mining claim. Proposal to amend the Mining Claims Regulation to include direction to claim holders on the process for disputing mining claims before a mining recorder.
c. MLAS Outages, extensions of time
Subsection 138(2) of the Mining Act relates to deadlines clients must meet, if time expires when the MLAS application is not functioning. Proposal to amend the Mining Claims Regulation to include conditions that may apply for a mining recorder to grant an extension of time to prevent the forfeiture of mining claims when MLAS is down.
3. On April 10, 2018, Phase 3 of Mining Act Modernization (MAM) was launched, including a system for province wide, online mining claim registration and a 24/7 online system to administer mining lands. As part of that modernization, all existing recorded mining claims ("legacy claims") were converted into new, digital mining claims as of April 10, 2018.
Ontario Regulation 454/17 provided some detailed rules about how legacy claims would be converted under s. 38.2 of the Mining Act including due dates by which a claim holder must distribute assessment credits or make a payment in place to a mining claim to keep it in good standing, as well as how assessment work credits for legacy claims would be transferred dealt with in the conversion process.
The proposal seeks to revoke Ontario Regulation 454/17, as it is no longer necessary because the conversion process was completed as of April 10, 2018.
1. O. Reg. 240/00, including the Mine Rehabilitation Code came into force in June 2000. The Mine Rehabilitation Code requires that all persons engaged in the design, construction, maintenance and decommissioning of tailings dams and other containment structures give due regard to the procedures and requirements in the "Dam Safety Guidelines" published by the Canadian Dam Association.
The Mine Rehabilitation Code does not provide for updating to the most recent version of the Dam Safety Guidelines. This means the Dam Safety Guidelines that were in place in June 2000 are the ones that apply.
This proposed amendment would seek to amend the Mine Rehabilitation Code in O. Reg. 240/00 to refer to the most recent version of the Dam Safety Guidelines. Doing so will provide greater certainty and clarity on the revised standards.
2. Adhering to the Mining Act and regulations can be a burden to clients. To reduce possible burdens to clients when managing mining claims on the MLAS, and to provide more flexibility to manage their mining lands, the following amendments are being proposed to the Mining Claims Regulation (O. Reg. 66/18):
a. Merger and Amalgamation Mining Claims
Proposal to amend subsections 3(4)(d) and 4(4)(f) of to allow claim holders to merge or amalgamate their mining claims that have a common plan or permit.
b. Mining Claim Disputes
Section 48 of the Mining Act relates to the dispute of a registered mining claim. Proposal to amend the Mining Claims Regulation to include direction to claim holders on the process for disputing mining claims before a mining recorder.
c. MLAS Outages, extensions of time
Subsection 138(2) of the Mining Act relates to deadlines clients must meet, if time expires when the MLAS application is not functioning. Proposal to amend the Mining Claims Regulation to include conditions that may apply for a mining recorder to grant an extension of time to prevent the forfeiture of mining claims when MLAS is down.
3. On April 10, 2018, Phase 3 of Mining Act Modernization (MAM) was launched, including a system for province wide, online mining claim registration and a 24/7 online system to administer mining lands. As part of that modernization, all existing recorded mining claims ("legacy claims") were converted into new, digital mining claims as of April 10, 2018.
Ontario Regulation 454/17 provided some detailed rules about how legacy claims would be converted under s. 38.2 of the Mining Act including due dates by which a claim holder must distribute assessment credits or make a payment in place to a mining claim to keep it in good standing, as well as how assessment work credits for legacy claims would be transferred dealt with in the conversion process.
The proposal seeks to revoke Ontario Regulation 454/17, as it is no longer necessary because the conversion process was completed as of April 10, 2018.
Further Information:
Link to Environmental Registry
Proposal Number:
19-ENDM007
Posting Date:
June 10, 2019
Comments Due Date:
July 25, 2019