VICTORIA — The New Democrats this week extended their moratorium on new mineral claims in a vast area of northern B.C., banning further exploration at a time when they are also promoting the province as “rich in critical mineral and precious metal resources.”
The year-long moratorium, banning claims staking within the land-use planning areas for the Tahltan, Taku River Tlingit and Kaska First Nations, was set to expire Wednesday. The extension pushed the ban out to Jan. 31.
The three plans comprise an area of 175,000 square kilometres in northwestern and north-central B.C., according to background papers from the mining and critical minerals ministry.
The Mines Ministry said the extension “will support continued land-use planning in partnership with First Nations and broad engagement with stakeholders and communities.”
The announcement brought an immediate blast from a key mining group, the Association for Mineral Exploration B.C., with more than 6,000 members engaged in mineral exploration and development, here and elsewhere.
“Extension of Staking Ban in Northwest B.C. unhelpful for exploration,” read the association news release.
Its CEO, Todd Stone, complained the government had failed to consult the association the extension. It provided only perfunctory notice Tuesday evening that something was coming the next day, with no details on the contents.
Though the cabinet restrictions on mineral exploration applied to smaller tracts within the larger land use plans, the ban would nevertheless affect dozens of claim holders and hundreds of overlapping mineral tenures.
“Our members are tired of waking up and wondering whether government is going to shut them down,” said Stone. “This flies in the face of investment certainty from a government that has big goals around finding and developing mines in our province.”
Read the full story at the Vancouver Sun: NDP limits mineral exploration even as it promotes B.C. mining.