WHEREAS one of the most valued and fundamental rights in our society is the ability for a person to own land and be entitled to the quiet enjoyment of such land; AND WHEREAS the Mineral Tenure Act provides that a free miner may stake a mineral claim on private property which entitles him to prospect, explore, locate, mine and produce minerals, notwithstanding the negative impact which such activities may have on the rights of the private property owner: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Union of British Columbia Municipalities petition the provincial government for changes to the Mineral Tenure Act which would preclude the ability of a miner to stake a claim on private property without the consent of the property owner.
MINISTRY OF ENERGY, MINES AND PETROLEUM RESOURCES Land owners may not be aware that a free miner has a right of access to minerals and that the entry onto their land does not constitute trespassing. As well, free miners may not be aware of specific concerns with entry that a land holder may have; for example the time of entry or exploration work near water resources. For these reasons, we amended the two Acts to address any potential conflicts between free minersmineral developers and property owners. The amendments seek to strike a balance between promotion of economic growth through access to land for mineral exploration and development and land holders expectations regarding the enjoyment and use of their property. Section 11 of the Mineral Tenure Act Act protects landowners by ensuring that certain categories of land are excluded from being negatively impacted by mining or mineral exploration. For example, the Act contains a list of areas that cannot be entered by free miners which include: land occupied by a building, the curtilage space of a dwelling house, orchard land, land under cultivation, protected heritage property, land in a park, and land in a recreation area.