Ontario Mining Act Amendments Take Full Effect April 1, 2013

A "new" Ontario Mining Act¹comes into full force April 1, 2013.

The last time the Mining Act had a major overhaul, famed American gangster Bugsy Siegel was a newborn and Sir Wilfrid Laurier was Prime Minister of Canada. The year was 1906. 

The amendments are being sold by the province as a "modernization." It is too early to know whether that is just a euphemism, but one thing is certain -- the changes are going to demand much more work, planning and spending on the part of mining companies in Ontario. 

As indicated above, the Ontario Mining Act was largely a static statute for all of the 20th century. During that period, the mining business in the province flourished under the "free entry" system of mineral allocation (under which staking a claim was relatively direct, fast and cheap). For most of those years, that meant that neither the Ontario government nor mining companies adequately consulted with stakeholders (if at all), including the province's First