What was this engagement about?

The Mines Act regulates all mining activities in British Columbia – from early exploration to production, reclamation, closure, and post-closure. Under this Act, mining activities include precious and base metal mines, coal mines, industrial mineral mines (e.g. silica, limestone), rock quarries, sand and gravel operations, and placer mines. The Mines Act is supported by specific requirements found in the Health, Safety and Reclamation Code for Mines in British Columbia (the Code). Updates to the Mines Act will support recent organizational changes within the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources (EMPR) and modernize compliance and enforcement requirements.

These proposed changes are in response to and were informed by lessons learned from the Mount Polley mine disaster, recommendations made by the Office of the Auditor General for B.C., and from the unanimous recommendations from the Mining Jobs Task Force (MJTF) which is made up of representatives from Indigenous communities, industry, municipal government, an environmental non-governmental organization, labour, post-secondary/training institutions and the financial sector.

The public was recommended to consult the Regulatory Excellence and Continuous Improvement in the Mining Sector Intentions Paper before providing feedback.

How will my contribution make a difference?

The feedback received will be considered within the proposed changes to the Mines Act. Following the public engagement period, EMPR will release a What We Heard Report summarizing the overall feedback.
 

Details of the Engagement:

Date: September 21, 2019 to October 25, 2019

Status: Closed

Location: Province-wide

Category: Natural Resources

Types: Online, Email, Mail