Northwest Territories Mining Regulations (SOR/2014-68)

Staked Claim

Marginal note:Requirements to complete staking

30 When the boundaries and corners of a claim have been marked in accordance with sections 23 to 29, the date and time of completion of the requirements of those sections and the licence number of the licensee referred to in paragraph 28(3)(a) must be inscribed on the identification tag of the northeast corner post or of the witness post designating the northeast corner, as the case may be. The claim is then staked.

Marginal note:Verification of staking

31 Compliance with the requirements set out in sections 23 to 30 may be verified by a person authorized by the Minister to perform any function related to the administration and enforcement of these Regulations.

Moving Legal Posts and Modifying Information

Marginal note:Prohibition

• 32 (1) Except as provided in subsections (2) and (3), it is prohibited

  • (a) to remove, displace or destroy a legal post; and

  • (b) to remove, deface or alter an identification tag secured to a legal post or an inscription on a legal post.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (2) The claim holder, the holder of the surface rights or a public authority may remove a legal post if the post is interfering with their use of the lands.

• Marginal note:Notification

  (3) If the holder of the surface rights or a public authority removes a legal post, they must, within 30 days after the removal, notify the claim holder and the Mining Recorder of the removal.

Recording of a Claim

Marginal note:Application

• 33 (1) Only the licensee for whom a claim has been staked may submit an application to the Mining Recorder to record the claim.

• Marginal note:Prescribed form and time limit

  (2) The application must be made in the prescribed form within 60 days after the date on which the staking of the claim is completed.

• Marginal note:Fee and map

  (3) The application must be accompanied by the applicable fee set out in Schedule 1 and a map or sketch at the scale of 1:50 000 showing all of the following:

  • (a) the location of the claim in relation to permanent topographical features in the vicinity of the claim;

  • (b) any nearby prospecting permit zones, recorded claims and leased claims;

  • (c) the positions of the corner posts;

  • (d) the positions and numbers of the boundary posts;

  • (e) the positions of any witness posts.

• Marginal note:Recording of claim

  (4) If the requirements of subsections (1) to (3) are met, the Mining Recorder must record the claim as soon as practicable after the 60th day following the day on which the staking is completed. The recording date is considered to be the date that the application is received at the Mining Recorder’s office.

• Marginal note:Duration of claim

  (5) Unless a recorded claim is leased under subsection 60(5) or its recording is cancelled under subsection 50(2) or 53(3) or section 54 or 55, the duration of a recorded claim is 10 years, beginning on its recording date, plus any suspensions recorded under section 51 and any extension under subsection 60(4).

Marginal note:Conflicting applications

34 If applications have been submitted to record two or more claims that overlap, the claim that is staked first in compliance with the staking requirements is the one that must be recorded.

Marginal note:Claim recorded under the law of another province

• 35 (1) If it is determined that lands covered by a mining claim that is recorded or otherwise recognized under the law regulating the disposition of mining interests in another province are wholly or partly in the Northwest Territories Mining District, and if the portion in the Northwest Territories does not contain lands referred to in section 5, the claim holder may, within 90 days after the determination, apply to the Mining Recorder to have the portion of the claim within the Northwest Territories recorded as a separate claim.

• Marginal note:Limitation

  (2) If an application to record the claim is not made within the period set out in subsection (1), the lands that were covered by the claim and that are within the Northwest Territories are considered to never have been covered by a claim.

• Marginal note:Recording date and time

  (3) On receipt of an application made under subsection (1) and the applicable fee set out in Schedule 1, the Mining Recorder must record the claim as soon as practicable, using the date and time when the claim was recorded or otherwise recognized under the law regulating the disposition of mining interests in the other province.

Marginal note:Claim lying partly in another province

36 If a plan of survey recorded under section 59 and prepared with respect to a recorded claim shows that part of the claim is in another province, the Mining Recorder must reduce the boundaries of the claim in accordance with the plan, and must, as soon as practicable, notify the claim holder of the reduction.

Dispute Respecting Recording of a Claim

Marginal note:Notice of protest

• 37 (1) If a person wants to dispute the recording of a claim, they must

  • (a) within one year after the day the disputed claim was recorded, file with the Supervising Mining Recorder a notice of protest in the prescribed form; and

  • (b) attest that they believe that they have, before the staking of the disputed claim, staked a claim on all or part of the area covered by the disputed claim.

• Marginal note:Priority based on time of staking

  (2) When the recording of a claim is disputed, the recording of the area of the claim in dispute must be accorded to the person who first staked the claim in accordance with these Regulations.

Marginal note:Inquiry by Supervising Mining Recorder

• 38 (1) When a notice of protest is filed, the Supervising Mining Recorder must

  • (a) send a copy of the notice by registered mail to the holder of the disputed claim; and

  • (b) inquire into the allegations contained in the notice of protest.

• Marginal note:Powers related to the inquiry

  (2) For the purposes of the inquiry, the Supervising Mining Recorder may

  • (a) summon and examine under oath any person whose attendance is considered necessary to the inquiry;

  • (b) compel the production of documents by witnesses; and

  • (c) do all things necessary to provide a full and proper inquiry.

• Marginal note:Determination and reasons

  (3) After making the inquiry, the Supervising Mining Recorder must determine which claim was staked first and must provide the parties and the Mining Recorder with written reasons for the determination.

Work Requirements

Marginal note:Work required

• 39 (1) The holder of a recorded claim must do work that incurs a cost of work that is equal to or greater than

  • (a) $10 per full or partial hectare in the claim during the two-year period following the day on which the claim is recorded; and

  • (b) $5 per full or partial hectare in the claim during each subsequent one-year period.

• Marginal note:Work before recording of claim

  (2) Work that was done during the two years before the claim was recorded is considered to be work done on the claim during the period referred to in paragraph (1)(a).

Marginal note:Report of work or request for extension

40 The claim holder must, no later than 90 days after the end of the period during which the work referred to in subsection 39(1) must be done, submit to the Mining Recorder

• (a) a report of the work that has been done in respect of the claim; or

• (b) an application for a one-year extension to do the work.

Work Reports and Applications for Extension

Marginal note:Report on work

• 41 (1) A report of the work that has been done in respect of a claim must be prepared in accordance with Part 1 of Schedule 2, but if the report deals only with excavation, sampling or the examination of outcrops and surficial deposits — or any combination of them — and the cost of work is less than $10,000, the report may be a simplified report prepared in accordance with Part 2 of Schedule 2.

• Marginal note:Signature of report

  (2) The report must be prepared and signed

  • (a) in the case of a simplified report, by the individual who performed or supervised the work; or

  • (b) in all other cases, by a professional geoscientist or a professional engineer as those terms are defined in subsection 1(1) of the Engineering and Geoscience Professions Act, S.N.W.T. 2006, c. 16.

• Marginal note:Associated documents

  (3) The report must be accompanied by the fee for a certificate of work set out in Schedule 1 and the following documents:

  • (a) a statement of work in the prescribed form;

  • (b) a table setting out the cost of work by type of work, together with, for each type of work, details of the costs sufficient to enable evaluation of the report in accordance with subsection 44(1); and

  • (c) a table setting out the cost of work that is attributable to each claim.

• Marginal note:Claim holder’s equipment or work

  (4) If a holder of a recorded claim uses their own equipment to perform work or personally performs work,

  • (a) the cost claimed in relation to that equipment must not be more than the cost of leasing similar equipment for the period that the equipment is used in performing the work; and

  • (b) the cost claimed in relation to that work must not be more than an amount equal to the cost of engaging another person to do that work.

• Marginal note:Record keeping

  (5) The holder of a recorded claim must keep all supporting documents used to justify the cost of work and make them available on request by the Mining Recorder until the holder has received a certificate of work under paragraph 47(1)(a).

• Marginal note:Work reported once

  (6) Work reported in one report must not be reported in any other report.

Marginal note:Application for extension of time

• 42 (1) The application for a one-year extension referred to in paragraph 40(b) must be in the prescribed form and be accompanied by the applicable fee set out in Schedule 1 and the charge payable for that period under subsection 43(1).

• Marginal note:Certificate of extension

  (2) If the requirements of subsection (1) are met, the Mining Recorder must issue to the claim holder a certificate of extension for a one-year period to do the work, except that not more than three certificates of extension are to be issued with respect to a claim.

Charges to Hold Recorded Claim and Assess Mineral Potential

Marginal note:Charge

• 43 (1) The following charges apply to the right to hold a recorded claim and assess its mineral potential:

  • (a) $10 per full or partial hectare in the claim during the two-year period following the day on which the claim is recorded; and

  • (b) $5 per full or partial hectare in the claim for each subsequent one-year period.

• Marginal note:Payment

  (2) The claim holder must pay the charges in accordance with subsection 42(1) or 49(1), as the case may be.

Evaluation of Report and Cost of Work

Marginal note:Evaluation of report

• 44 (1) The Mining Recorder must evaluate the report of work that is referred to in paragraph 40(a) to determine its compliance with Schedule 2 and the cost of work to be entered in a certificate of work under subsection 47(2).

• Marginal note:Supporting documents

  (2) If the Mining Recorder requests supporting documents that justify the cost of work reported, the Mining Recorder must notify the holder of the recorded claim in writing and must specify the cost of work for which the documents are requested.

• Marginal note:Lack of justification

  (3) If the holder of the recorded claim does not, within four months after the day the notification is sent, provide the supporting documents requested, the cost of work to which they relate must be considered to be unjustified.