First

Session, 46th General Assembly

Elizabeth II, 2008

BILL 62

AN ACT TO AMEND THE

MINERAL ACT

Received and Read the First Time ...................................................................................................

Second Reading .................................................................................................................................

Committee ............................................................................................................................................

Third Reading .....................................................................................................................................

Royal Assent ......................................................................................................................................

HONOURABLE KATHY DUNDERDALE

Minister of Natural Resources

Ordered

to be printed by the Honourable House of Assembly

EXPLANATORY NOTES

This Bill would amend the Mineral Act .

Clause 1 of the Bill would amend the

Act to strike out a reference and cross reference to ground staked licences.

Clause 2 of the Bill would amend the

Act to repeal the requirement to report to the Legislature on mineral licenses

and leases, as the information is available on the public on-line database.

Clauses 3 through 6 of the Bill would

amend the Act to strike out references to ground staked licences.

Clause 7 of the Bill would amend the

Act to strike out references to ground staked licences. The clause would also

give the minister the power to make lands available for re-staking.

Clauses 8 through 12 of the Bill

would amend the Act to strike out references to ground staked licences.

Clause 13 of the Bill would amend the

Act to require a person applying for a lease to meet specific requirements.

The clause would also limit the area

of a lease being issued.

The clause would also require that a

lessee be in full compliance with the terms of the lease before a lease is

approved for transfer.

Clause 14 of the Bill would amend the

Act to give the minister discretion to cancel a lease if the holder is unable

to commence production.

Clause 15 of the Bill would amend the

Act to allow the minister responsible for this Act in consultation with the minister

responsible for Lands Act to issue surface

leases.

Clause 16 of the Bill would amend the

Act to clarify that machinery, chattels, other personal property or structures

remaining on land after a lease ends must be removed within a specified period

of time or they become the property of the Crown with no compensation payable.

As well any expenses associated with the removal of this property or structures

and restoration of the land becomes a debt due to the Crown.

Clauses 17 and 18 of the Bill would

amend the Act to strike out references to ground staked licences.

A BILL

AN ACT TO AMEND THE MINERAL ACT

Analysis

S.2 Amdt.

Interpretation

S.3 Rep.

Administration

S.7 Amdt.

Classification of lands

S.9 Rep.

Ground staked licences

S. 14 Amdt.

Compensation

6. S.20 Amdt.

Right to licences

S.21 Amdt.

Application for licence; acceptance

S.22 Amdt.

Issuing of licence

S.25 Amdt.

Surrender of licence

S.25.1 Amdt.

Splitting licences

S.28 Amdt.

Extension of licence

12. S.30 Amdt.

Disposition of exempted lands

S.31 Amdt.

Mining lease

S.32 Amdt.

Waiving of obligations

S.33 Amdt.

Right to a demise of surface lands

S.36 R&S

Right to move chattels and structures

S.38 Amdt.

Jurisdiction of board

S.41 Amdt.

Regulations

Be it enacted by the Lieutenant-Governor and

House of Assembly in Legislative Session convened, as follows:

RSNL1990 cM-12

as amended

1. (1) Paragraph 2(1)(

e) of the Mineral Act is amended by striking out

the reference "paragraph 7(1)(a)" and substituting the reference "subsection

7(1)".

(2) The Act is amended by repealing paragraph

2(2)(

a) and substituting the following:

(

a) to a licence is a reference to a map staked

licence issued or extended under this Act; and

Section 3 of the Act is repealed.

3. Subsection 7(1) of the Act is repealed and the

following substituted:

Classification of

lands

(1) This

Act applies to lands which are lands open to staking, that is to say, lands in

respect of which the recorder has a duty to issue to a person with respect to

the minerals in, on or under those lands a map staked licence if the provisions

of this Act and the regulations for issuing the licence are complied with.

Section 9 of the Act is repealed.

5. Subsection 14(1) of the Act is amended by

striking out the comma after the word "prospecting" and by striking

out the words "exploring or staking" and substituting the words

"or exploring".

Section 20 of the Act is amended by striking

out the words "ground staked licence and" and substituting the word

"a".

7. (1) Paragraph 21(1)(

c) of the Act is

amended by striking out the words and comma "in the case of an application

for a map staked licence,".

(2) Paragraph 21(1)(

d) of the Act is repealed.

(3) Section 21 of the Act is amended by adding

immediately after subsection (2.1) the following:

(2.2) Notwithstanding subsection (2), where an area

is made available for staking following rescinding of a regulation under paragraph

4(1)(

b) or a notice under

section 27, applications for licences for portions or

all of the area coming open for staking may be submitted under subsection (1).

(4) Subsections 21(3) and (4) of the Act are

repealed.

8. Subsection 22(4) of the Act is repealed.

9. Subsection 25(1) of the Act is amended by

adding the word "and" at the end of the paragraph (

a) and by

repealing paragraph (b).

10. Subsection 25.1(1) of the Act is repealed and

the following substituted:

Splitting

licences

25.1

(1) The

holder of a licence may at any time during the currency of the licence request

to have the licence split into 2 or more smaller licences and new sketches for

the smaller licences shall be submitted by the licence holder.

11. Paragraph 28(1)(

b) of the Act is amended by

striking out the words "tagged and physically staked in the manner

required by paragraph 21(1)(

d) or within the boundaries of the original description

contained in the licence" and substituting the words "surrendered as provided

for under

section 25".

12. Subsection 30(2) of the Act is amended by

striking out the words "ground staked".

13. (1) Subsection 31(3) of the Act is amended

by striking out the word "and" at the end of paragraph (

b) and by adding

immediately after paragraph (

b) the following:

(b.1) the person has demonstrated to the

satisfaction of the minister, including through the confirmation of a qualified

person, the existence of a mineral resource that is of sufficient size and

quality to be potentially economic;

(2) Subsection 31(3) of the Act is amended by striking

out the period at the end of paragraph (

c) and substituting a semi-colon and

the word "and", and by adding immediately after that paragraph the

following:

(

d) the lease covers the minimum area necessary to

cover the identified resource.

(3) Section 31 of the Act is amended by adding

immediately after subsection (3) the following:

(3.1) A "qualified person" referred to in

paragraph (3)(b.1) is a person who

(

a) is an engineer or geoscientist with at least 5

years of experience in mineral exploration, mine development or operation or mineral

project assessment or a combination of these,

(

b) has experience relevant to the subject matter

of the mineral project and the technical report, and

(

c) is a member in good standing of a professional

association for engineers or geoscientists.

(4) Paragraph 31(5)(

d) of the Act is amended by

adding immediately after the word "may" a comma and the words and comma

"only if the lessee is in full compliance with the terms of the lease,".

Section 32 of the Act is amended by striking

out the word "shall" and substituting the word "may".

Section 33 of the Act is amended by striking

out the words "Lieutenant-Governor in Council" wherever they occur

and substituting the words "minister in consultation with the minister appointed

under the Executive Council Act to

administer the Lands Act" .

Section 36 of the Act is repealed and the

following substituted:

Right to move

chattels and structures

36 .

(1) Upon

the termination or cancellation of a demise of surface or other rights granted

under

section 33, the holder of the demise may take from the land to which it

relates

(

a) machinery, chattels and other personal

property within 6 months after the date of termination or cancellation or within

the extended period that may be fixed by the minister; and

(

b) a structure within 12 months after the date of

termination or cancellation.

(2) Any property or structure referred to in subsection

(1) which remains on the land after the expiration of the period permitted by

that subsection for removal becomes the property of the Crown.

(3) No compensation is payable by the Crown to the

holder of the demise referred to in subsection (1) for any property or

structure referred to in that subsection which becomes the property of the

Crown under subsection (2).

(4) Where the minister incurs an expense

(

a) in rehabilitating the surface of land demised

under

section 33 or subject to a mining lease under

section 31 where a lessee

fails to do so as required by the terms of his or her lease; or

(

b) in disposing of or removing property or

structures referred to in subsection (2),

the expense constitutes a debt due the

Crown.

17. Paragraph 38(1)(

b) of the Act is repealed.

(1) Subparagraph 41(e)(iv) of the Act is

repealed.

(2) Paragraph 41(

p) of the Act is amended by striking

out the words "ground staked".

Earl G. Tucker, Queen's Printer