2025 - Improving Ontario’s Mineral Exploration Assessment Work Regime

In Ontario, the Mining Act provides a framework for the exploration and mining industry to engage in early exploration work by allowing licensed prospectors to register mining claims on lands where mining rights are open for claim registration. This registration grants the holder the exclusive right to explore for minerals on a designated piece of land, contingent upon obtaining any necessary permits or approvals, and conducting required consultations where the duty to consult arises.

While claim holders have no obligation to perform assessment work on a claim after it is registered, the claim will forfeit if the claim holder does not perform and report the prescribed amount of eligible assessment work (or, where allowable, make a payment in lieu of work), and then apply credit to the claim before the expiry date of the claim. “Assessment work” means certain types of prospecting and exploration activities that are recognized under Ontario Regulation 65/18 (“O. Reg. 65/18”) as eligible for credit (e.g. sampling, airborne geophysical surveys, bedrock trenching, exploratory drilling, and environmental baseline studies).

For the work to be eligible for assessment credit, the claim holder must submit an assessment work report through the Mining Lands Administration System (MLAS) that complies with regulatory requirements and technical standards. The assessment work report is reviewed, and upon approval, work credits are assigned and are placed in the reserve of the mining lands on which they were performed. These requirements help encourage claim holders to actively undertake exploration activities and potential development of mineral resources.

Assessment work reports that are submitted to the Ministry are made available to the public and add to the overall geoscience knowledge of Ontario.

These reports contribute to the publicly available geoscience data which may be useful to exploration companies and prospectors in their efforts to locate new mineral deposits within the province. This information is also used by Ontario’s Geological Survey to support key government priorities by allowing effective access to past exploration activity reports. The availability of this data has also led to a number of new deposits being discovered in Ontario. The system is designed to balance the need for exploration with commercial viability.

All assessment work in Ontario is conducted and submitted in accordance with the Mining Act, O. Reg. 65/18, and the Technical Standards for Reporting Assessment Work (the “Technical Standards”). The Technical Standards set out what must be included in the technical report, a required component of the assessment work report, for each assessment work type.

The right to explore for minerals on an unpatented mining claim is contingent upon obtaining any necessary permits or approvals, and the Crown conducting required consultations, where the duty to consult arises.

The proposal includes the following:

• Streamlining the Technical Standards for Reporting Assessment Work;

• Mandatory submittal of the raw and processed datasets with technical reports
• Amending expense verification;
• New eligibility requirements to qualify for the grassroots prospecting incentive to focus the incentive to meet the goal of encouraging early-stage work by individuals or small business;
• Changes to the timelines for assessment work reporting processes which includes improvements to the pending distribution function.

The attached documents, 2025 - Improving Ontario’s Mineral Exploration Assessment Work Regime and the draft Technical Standards for Reporting Assessment Work, provide further details on the Ministry’s proposals. The Ministry will consider the responses received in developing any potential changes to relevant legislation, regulation, policies and technical standards for assessment work reporting in Ontario.

The Ministry currently anticipates that the environmental implications of this proposal should be neutral.

Anticipated Results:

These specific changes to assessment work reporting requirements will support Ontario’s efforts to assess and implement improvements to the assessment work regime that increase the availability of high-quality geoscience data, ensure competitiveness of the mineral sector and support strong supply chains. It is expected that adding to the geoscience database would enhance the understanding and attractiveness of Ontario’s mineral potential.  

Regulatory impact analysis/statement (mandatory for Regulations)

It is estimated that the regulatory impact will be neutral.