(Quebec) BAPE mandatory for all mines
Quebec wants to make it mandatory to hold a consultation with the Office of Public Hearings on the Environment (BAPE) for any mining project. This announcement is made in the context where the Legault government is roundly criticized for having avoided holding a BAPE on battery sector projects, such as the Northvolt factory. “We want to leave room for projects that meet the highest social and environmental standards, those that attract the support of Quebecers,” said Ms.me Blanchette Vézina. The current law, dusted off by the Parti Québécois in 2013, excluded metal projects of less than 2,000 metric tons per day, and 500 metric tons per day for other materials.
No more claims on private lands
Nearly 10% of Quebec territory is currently covered by mining claims, including 8% of private land. Historically, mining took place in the north of the territory, but the appetite for graphite and lithium has caused the number of claims to explode in the south, where people have cottages or farmland, for example . The law already provides that an owner can refuse any mining exploration on his land, but Quebec puts a lock on this practice by “withdrawing private lands from mining exploration when there has been no work in the area.” pass “. “It will remove this pressure and it will also reassure,” said the minister. An MRC may, however, make its territory available for claims, if it so desires.
Speculators in trouble
The minister’s reform directly targets “speculators”, brokers whose only intention in purchasing a mining claim is to resell it for a profit, without carrying out any exploration work. Quebec believes it has found a way to get rid of them. From now on, it will no longer be possible to sell a claim without having carried out exploration work, and these rights will expire if work has not been carried out within a certain period. For the moment, only 13 to 17% of mining claims are the subject of exploration work to find a deposit. “ [Les gens] see that claims are resold from $75 to $10,000. This speculation must stop, and we are happy to see measures to regulate this practice,” said Quebec Solidaire MP Alejandra Zaga Mendez.
An absolute record of claims
There are nearly 351,000 mining claims in Quebec, an absolute record. With the bill, Quebec believes that 20 to 25% of mining claims will simply disappear, and estimates that a fifth of all mining claims in Quebec are currently in the hands of speculators. This will reduce pressure on cities and the Quebec government, which sometimes want to plan other uses for these territories, for example the creation of protected areas. “It is the objective, indeed, that where there are claims, there is really mining exploration which is carried out to have better predictability for the municipalities, but also for other uses for the territory, indeed,” said the minister.
Fostering transformation
The Quebec government wants to promote the processing in Quebec of the minerals extracted there. “There are certain measures that will make it possible to know, in particular, where the minerals are sent by the companies,” said Mr.me Blanchette Vézina. Mining companies will also be required, during the BAPE study, to present an opportunity study which will “must include elements on valorization and processing in Quebec”. “This will allow us to propose or intervene with the company, then to work with it to see what we could do to maximize the benefits in Quebec,” indicated the associate deputy minister at the Ministry of Natural Resources and of Forests Ian Morissette.