B.C. mineral claims processing time still falling short, industry says

The B.C. government is falling short on its own goal to process mineral claims more quickly, according to industry leaders.

Todd Stone, president of the Association for Mineral Exploration, said B.C. has an “abundance of critical minerals, precious metals, (and) rare earth metals that the world needs and the world wants.”

However, Stone says that mining companies are facing excessive government red tape over exploration.

“If they don’t get the ability to access these claims soon, a lot of these explorers could miss the exploration window this summer,” he said.

The B.C. government has a mineral claims consultation framework that governs the process for a miner moving from staking a claim to exploring the land to determine whether there is a viable mineral deposit to mine.

The Mines Ministry set a goal of processing applications in 90 to 120 days or faster, a window that was supposed to include 30 days for consulting with First Nations, but miners say only a fraction of permits are coming in within that time frame.

“Having to wait for six months for your mineral claims before you can go explore, it’s just way too long,” Darcy Vis with Tripoint Geological Services said.

B.C.’s Minister for Mining and Critical Minerals, Jagrup Brar, said the province is in the process of hiring 17 more staff to deal with exploration permits.

“So we are taking actions to improve the mineral claims consultation framework,” he said.

The Association for Mineral Exploration says the delays are, on average, a little more than three weeks beyond the government’s own target.

While that may not seem excessive, considering the complexity of the matter, the miners say it might mean they miss an important weather window to access certain places in B.C., and they say the government has had plenty of time to work out the new system.

“We are nowhere near where we should be in early April,” Stone said.

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