The Latest Risk to the BC Natural Resource Sector: Government Uses Little Known Law to Freeze Mining Rights Unless First Nations Consent – McMillan LLP
Press Release
March 11, 2024
On March 6, 2024, one of the largest annual mineral exploration and mining conferences in the world ended in Toronto. The very next day, the BC government announced four Cabinet orders[1] that upended various rights of prospectors and mineral developers in two parts of British Columbia.
The four orders were made under a little-known law called the Environment and Land Use Act. They prohibit placer and mineral claim staking on Banks Island and part of Vancouver Island, as well as restricting related mineral exploration activities. The BC Government indicated in a corresponding news release that it may amend the orders if affected parties could reach agreement with local First Nations.
No prior government has ever used these powers so broadly, or said openly that the restrictions may be removed if holders of such rights can reach agreement with First Nations. [2]
