The Building More Mines Act,…

The Building More Mines Act, 2023 and the concomitant proposed Closure Planning amendments aim to make mining in the province “an easier process, attracting more investors while advancing ongoing critical mining projects and critical mining project planning.” It also purports to facilitate advances in the remining of tailings and waste rock.
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The rules regarding mine closure are set out in Part VII of the Mining Act, and in Regulation 240-00. Currently, these requirements are currently overseen by the Director of Mine Rehabilitation.

These amendments, if passed, would increase conflict with Indigenous Peoples in Ontario, increase financial risk to taxpayers from the mineral industry, and will enable further destruction of the environment on which we all depend.¬

Mine closure matters more than the mine itself. Until this latest push for “critical minerals”, the industry itself talked about the need to “mine for closure”. All mines expand beyond their original footprint, affecting a larger and larger area.

Mining is a waste management industry with short-term benefits and long-term consequences. It is not sustainable, by definition: it depletes the very resource it depends upon. More than 99% of the rock it digs up and pulverizes becomes waste, often acid-generating and toxic. Most of the tailings are held behind dams made of waste rock in ponds that have to be managed in perpetuity. If the mine is an underground operation, some of the waste can be returned underground as paste backfill, but not all. With open pit mines, the enormous pits themselves are hazards, as they take decades to fill with water, which can also be toxic. As the hunger for metals increases, underground mines become open pits, with their concomitant environmental problems.

While Ontarians for a Just Accountable Strategy supports the re-mining of mine wastes to produce the metals we need, we do not support the changes to the Act and Regulations as proposed by the government.

Contents of our brief:

1. LACK OF CONSULTATION WITH FIRST NATIONS ABOUT THE PROPOSED AMENDMENTS.
2. CHANGES TO CLOSURE PLAN REQUIREMENTS
3. REPLACE MINISTRY TECHNICAL REVIEW OF THE CLOSURE PLAN WITH REVIEW BY QUALIFIED PERSONS.
4. ALLOW FINANCIAL ASSURANCE REQUIREMENTS TO BE AMENDED WITHOUT A CLOSURE PLAN AMENDMENT; CODIFY THE PRACTICE OF PHASED FINANCIAL ASSURANCE; ALLOW PLEDGE OF ASSETS AS A SECURITY.
5. ALLOW THE MINISTER TO DEFER OR AMEND REQUIRED ELEMENTS OF THE CLOSURE PLAN, UPON REQUEST OF A PROPONENT
6. CHANGE THE DEFINITION OF “REHABILITATE” AND “PROTECTIVE MEASURES” TO ALLOW “ALTERNATE USES” POST-CLOSURE (SECTION 139)
7. CHANGE IN STATUTORY DECISION-MAKING AUTHORITY
8. CHANGE IN STANDARD REQUIRED FOR RECLAMATION
9. LAY THE NECESSARY GROUNDWORK FOR ANTICIPATED REGULATORY AMENDMENTS TO PART VII (REHABILITATION) OF THE ACT
CONCLUSION