B.C.'s new mineral claims rules criticized by those most affected
First Nations say B.C. isn't meeting its obligations, while prospectors worry about delays
Prospectors wanting to make a mineral claim in B.C. will soon have to consult with local First Nations under new provincial rules.
But neither First Nations representatives nor prospectors are happy with them, and a mining professor says the rules could leave some community members feeling left out.
First Nations say the development of a new consultation framework — which goes into effect March 26 — was rushed, and its drafting didn't meet the province's obligations to consult under the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA).
Prospectors say the new framework will add at least 60 days in consultation time to a mining permitting process that is already dogged with delays.
The new framework was introduced after the province lost a court case in 2023, in which the Gitxaała and Ehattesaht First Nations said the lack of informed consent before a claim was approved was discriminatory.
In that case, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Alan Ross gave the province a year and a half to get a consultation framework in place, finding that automatically granting mineral claims to industry applicants who submit requests had adverse impacts on First Nations.
At the time, the move was supported by First Nations representatives and the Association for Mineral Exploration. But now, Robert Phillips with the First Nations Leadership Council says the framework as it stands could overwhelm First Nations' ability to respond.
"We're talking thousands and thousands of referrals that hit the tables of First Nations, then we get overburdened," he said.
"Already there are people that work with First Nations that are doing 10 jobs beyond a job that they're doing already."
Phillips also says that the province didn't co-develop the framework with First Nations, and said having First Nations on board would "streamline the whole process" from an industrial perspective.
Concern for small prospectors
The framework calls for anyone who files a mineral claim to send a consultation package to the province, which sends it to the local First Nations who will have jurisdiction.
The province then works with the applicant and the First Nations as part of an initial 30-day response period, with a further maximum 60 days provided for consultation before a decision is made.
B.C.'s system allows individuals as well as big companies to advance claims and eventually develop mining operations if they perform environmental assessments and get permits.
Prospector Jeremy Davis, the CEO of JD Discovery Corp., said he understands the need for First Nations consultation, but doesn't think the province did it the right way. Davis says that, in his experience, there was a major disconnect between government and the local First Nations bands that he works with on his projects.
He said that with current permitting times, taking the the maximum 90 days of consultation into account, prospectors would be looking at two and a half years before they can even begin work to transform a claim into a mine.
"The changes they [have brought] in over the last decade have really pushed out all the smaller miners," he said.
"We're a big part of the community, too, and it's really unfortunate to see all these changes slowly pick away at the ability for smaller businesses in British Columbia to succeed."
'Seems like a jumble'
Patricia Dawn Mills, an adjunct professor at the University of B.C.'s institute of mining engineering, said the current framework doesn't bring a lot of parties to the table — including local community members.
She contrasted it to the consultation process in Peru, which sees government ministers sit down directly with local communities and prospectors over months — going over what mining projects would bring in terms of environmental impact, local job prospects and other impacts on a community level.
Mills says that B.C.'s framework seems to ignore that prospectors have usually already begun engagement with local First Nations as part of the claim process, and seems to chastize them for not doing so within a particular framework.
"It seems like a jumble, [and] it seems like you're gonna get lost in the middle and you don't know who you're talking to," she said of the current framework, which involves a lot of correspondence with bureaucrats.
In a statement, the Association for Mineral Exploration says it will continue to press for reasonable timelines and fairness in the new framework.
In a statement, the province's Mining and Critical Minerals Ministry said it has had consultation sessions with First Nations officials since July 2024 on the framework — with a break for the provincial election period — and there would be further opportunities to improve it before March.
"Since 2019, major mine application review timelines have reduced from an average of 259 business days to 164 business days," a spokesperson said. "Provincial average exploration permit timeline is 141 days, and we are looking to bring that number down."
The province said it had met with First Nations, the Association for Mineral Exploration and other industrial partners over the past two weeks at various conventions and would continue to work with them in the lead-up to the March deadline.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
