Will new claim staking rules put a chill on mineral exploration in B.C.? – by Nelson Bennett (Business In Vancouver – Janaury 30, 2025)

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First Nations likely to be deluged with claim referrals under upcoming Mineral Tenure Act changes

Twenty years ago, an NDP government triggered a flight of investment from mineral exploration and mining in B.C. that lasted more than a decade when, in 1993, it ring-fenced the massive undeveloped copper-cobalt Windy Craggy deposit with a new provincial park.

Windy Craggy, still a sore point for miners and prospectors in B.C., was invoked last week at the Association of Mineral Exploration (AME) Roundup conference during a technical panel discussion on the new rules coming for claim staking.

The changes have raised fears that another NDP government could usher in another “lost decade,” in which investment in mineral exploration flees to other provinces and countries. “With only a few months left, it is critical that we get things right, or see the investment and exploration flee the province,” AME CEO Keerit Jutla said. “Something like this also occurred in the 1990s with Windy Craggy, and it took almost 15, 20 years for investment to come back to B.C.”

For the rest of this article: https://www.biv.com/news/resources-agriculture/will-new-claim-staking-rules-put-a-chill-on-mineral-exploration-in-bc-10152725