FRANCAIS

May 16, 2002

Industry, Trade and Mines Minister MaryAnn Mihychuk has announced that proposed amendments to the Mines and Minerals Act being considered by the legislature would streamline and clarify mining regulations governing the minerals industry in Manitoba and enhance the stability of land tenure. They are also intended to encourage more exploration by smaller companies and individual prospectors.

Regulatory and statutory amendments would replace both types of exploration permits with a new mineral disposition called a mineral exploration licence. The terms and conditions applied to mineral exploration licences would make them more accessible to small companies and individual prospectors.

The amendments would also:

• eliminate the requirement for an airborne survey licence in order to conduct an airborne survey, making exploration more attractive because the existing licence provides no special rights to minerals;
• amend the definition of a "quarry mineral" to exclude diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds to clarify the regulatory framework for diamond exploration and development in Manitoba;
• create a way for the purchaser of a mining claim to correct and rectify staking errors made by the person who originally staked the claim; and
• amend the definition of "mineral" to include mine tailings in order to clarify the ownership of tailings to explicitly identify tailings produced as part of a mining operation as the property of the lease holder.

"These changes are intended to facilitate mineral exploration in Manitoba and to further stimulate exploration among smaller prospectors," said Mihychuk. "These changes also reflect the changing nature of the minerals industry in Manitoba, including our recent emphasis on diamonds and the need to clarify ownership of mine tailings."

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