The Minister of Economy and Energy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, believes that the conditions that allow companies to hold mining exploration rights on parcels of Quebec territory must be tightened.
The Minister raised the possibility of imposing tighter deadlines on holders of mining claims in Quebec, whose number has exploded by 65% in two years.
“Perhaps we need to put in mechanisms, milestonesotherwise the claim could disappear,” he said Wednesday in an interview at the end of a credit study session for his ministry.
Mr. Fitzgibbon wants to avoid situations where companies do cosmetic exploration work to comply with the requirements that allow them to continue to hold their rights to the territory.
“That’s when you have to tighten up a little bit,” he said.
Mr. Fitzgibbon said he is faced with a case where a Chinese company holds a claim on a potential lithium deposit.
“My concern is not who has the claim,” he said. We have a situation, someone has a claim on a potential lithium mine, and nothing is going to happen. In this case, it’s Chinese. They know that we will not say yes to Chinese exploitation. The claim, they still have it. »
Mr. Fitzgibbon wishes in particular to prevent land whose mining potential may prove to be non-existent from being blocked for other uses.
“The problem today is that we have claims that can be kept for too long by people who do nothing with them. »
On Tuesday, the Minister of Natural Resources, Maïté Blanchette Vézina, unveiled figures once again confirming the effects of the mining boom in Quebec.
According to Mr. Fitzgibbon, his colleague could take charge of making these changes.
“Maïté will be able to do that, she is aware of it,” he said. You have to watch it. Otherwise, we potentially leave interesting developments that do not happen. »
According to figures released on Tuesday, the Ministry of Natural Resources counted 318,065 mining claims, compared to 182,807 in 2020-2021.
Currently, the validity period of a claim is two years, the ministry says. The holder may renew his title indefinitely, provided he satisfies the conditions set out in the Mining Act, in particular the carrying out of exploration work, the nature and amounts of which are determined by regulation.
More details will follow.