We are pleased to announce that the Government of British Columbia is moving forward on one of AME’s key recommendations related to the COVID-19 outbreak – that is the extension of mineral exploration Notice of Work (NoW) permits to December 31, 2021. Any permits with an active authorization which expires before December 31, 2021 will be considered for an extension to December 31, 2021.
This measure will assist AME members who have permits but are not able to get into the field in 2020, or will be undertaking a reduced field program, by allowing them to extend their field activities to the end of 2021 without having to seek a new permit.
The Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources (MEMPR) is working through the process on a permit-by-permit basis given the range of different permit conditions and the various protocols that exist between the province and Indigenous groups. AME expects permit extensions to be completed by June 30.
Anyone who has a permit that will expire this summer should reach out to their inspector as soon as possible to discuss how the extension process applies to your permit. The Ministry may be contacting you to confirm the need for an extension, and all authorization holders will be notified once their NoW has been extended.
Permits are being extended due to the COVID-19 outbreak, and therefore do not constitute or bring into force the Term Extension clause in your NoW permit which allows proponents to request one extension to their permit; this option will still be available to you.
Kendra Johnston, President and CEO of AME commented, “We are pleased to be able to announce this extension and know that it will help many of you continue to explore this year and next. The BC government has recognized the importance of our sector by extending both mineral claims and NoW permits to December 2021. We look forward to continuing to work with government on our remaining recommendations which relate now to the longer-term recovery of our sector.”
We would like to thank the province for supporting the mineral exploration sector through implementing this measure and thank MEMPR staff in the regional offices for moving it forward.