Mineral exploration activities fall into 4 classes under the Quartz Mining Land Use Regulations. As the class increases so does the potential to cause negative impacts to the environment. Knowing your mining class is essential to knowing the limits of land and water disturbances for your program.
Class 1 exploration program limits
Construction of structures other than underground structures
Structures without foundations that are intended to be used for 12 consecutive months or less are permitted.
Number of person-days per camp
A maximum of 250 person-days
Number of people in a camp at any 1 time
A maximum of 10 people
Storage of fuel
- Total amount stored: a maximum of 5,000 litres
- Limit per container: a maximum of 2,000 litres
Construction of lines
- A maximum of 1.5 metres wide
- Can only be cut by hand with hand-held tools
Construction of corridors
- A maximum of 5 metres wide
- A maximum of 0.5 kilometres long
Trenching
- Grouped claims: a maximum of 1,200 cubic metres on a group of 3 claims ‒ no claim can be part of more than 1 group
- Individual claims: a maximum of 400 cubic metres
Clearings
- A maximum of 8 clearings per claim ‒ this includes existing clearings
- A maximum of 2 of the 8 clearings for helicopter pads and camps
- No removal of the vegetative mat within 30 metres of a water body
- A maximum area of 200 square metres for operational clearings
- A maximum area 500 square metres for helicopter pad and camp clearings
Access roads and trails
- Establishing new access roads is not allowed.
- Upgrading access roads is not allowed.
- Establishing trails, other than temporary trails, is not allowed.
- Establishing or using temporary trails is not allowed on Category A or Category B Settlement Land.
- The maximum trail width is 7 metres or 1 metre more than the width of the equipment to be moved along the trail, whichever is less.
- The maximum total trail length is 3 kilometres.
- The trail may only be used for moving sampling equipment between test sites.
- For the use of vehicles on existing roads, vehicles must weigh within the design limits of the road. If the design limits are unknown, these must weigh less than 40 tonnes for roads and 20 tonnes for trails.
- For off-road use of vehicles in summer, only low ground-pressure vehicles are permitted.
- For off-road use of vehicles in winter, these must be:
- low ground-pressure vehicles; or
- vehicles with a gross vehicle weight not exceeding 40 tonnes used over a maximum distance of 15 kilometres.
Use of explosives
A maximum of 1,000 kilograms in any 30-day period
Construction of underground structures
A maximum of 500 tonnes of rock may be moved to the surface in construction.
Class 2 exploration program limits
Construction of structures other than underground structures
Structures without foundations are permitted
Number of person-days per camp
A maximum of 250 person-days
Number of people in a camp at any 1 time
More than 10 people
Storage of fuel
- Total amount stored: a maximum of 40,000 litres
- Limit per container: a maximum of 10,000 litres
Construction of lines
- Can be more than 1.5 metres wide
- Can be cut with tools that are not hand-held
Construction of corridors
- A maximum of 5 metres wide
- A maximum of 0.5 kilometres long
Trenching
A total maximum volume of 1,200 cubic metres per claim per year
Clearings
- A maximum of 8 clearings per claim, including existing clearings
- A maximum of 2 of the 8 clearings for helicopter pads and camps
- The removal of the vegetative mat is permitted
- Clearings can be up to 400 square metres if only trees and brush are removed
- A maximum area of 500 square metres for helicopter pad and camp clearing
- A maximum of 1,000 square metres for clearings where vegetative mat is removed
Access roads and trails
- Establishing new access roads is allowed to a maximum distance of 5 kilometres.
- Upgrading access roads is allowed up to a distance of 10 kilometres.
- Establishing trails other than temporary trails is allowed up to 10 metres in width and 15 kilometres in length.
- For each exploration program, the establishment or use of temporary trails up to 10 metres in width and 15 kilometres in length is allowed.
- For the use of vehicles on existing roads, vehicles must weigh within the design limits of the road. If the design limits are unknown, these must weigh less than 40 tonnes for roads and 20 tonnes for trails.
- For off-road use of vehicles in summer, only vehicles with a gross weight of 20 tonnes or less, used over a maximum distance of 15 kilometres are permitted.
- For off-road use of vehicles in winter, these can be:
- low ground-pressure or other vehicles; and
- used over a maximum distance of 25 kilometres.
Use of explosives
1,000 kilograms or more in any 30-day period
Construction of underground structures
- A maximum of 40,000 tonnes of rock may be moved to the surface per year.
- A maximum of 200,000 tonnes is moved to the surface per exploration program.
Class 3 exploration program limits
Construction of structures other than underground structures
Structures with foundations are permitted
Number of person-days per camp
More than 250 person-days
Number of people in a camp at any 1 time
More than 10 people
Storage of fuel
- Total amount stored: more than 40,000 litres
- Limit per container: more than 10,000 litres
Construction of lines
- Lines wider than 1.5 metres in width are allowed
- Can be cut with tools that are not hand-held
Construction of corridors
- A maximum of 10 metres wide
- Can be more than 0.5 kilometres long
Trenching
- A maximum total volume of 5,000 cubic metres per claim per year
- A maximum 10,000 cubic metres over the life of the exploration program
Clearings
- 8 or more clearings per claim, including existing clearings
- 8 or more clearings for helicopter pads and camps
- The removal of the vegetative mat is permitted
- Clearings can be 400 square metres or more if only trees and brush are removed
- Helicopter pad and camp clearings can be 500 square metres or more
- Clearings can be 1,000 square metres or more if the vegetative mat is removed
Access roads and trails
- Establishing new access roads up to 15 kilometres in length is permitted.
- Upgrading access roads up to 30 kilometres in length is permitted.
- Establishing trails other than temporary trails up to 15 metres in width and 40 kilometres in total length is permitted.
- For each exploration program, the establishment or use of temporary trails up to 15 metres in width and 40 kilometres in total length is permitted.
- For use of vehicles on existing roads, vehicles must weigh within the design limits of the road. If the design limits are unknown, these must weigh less than 40 tonnes for roads and 20 tonnes for trails.
- For off-road use of vehicles in summer, vehicles with a gross weight of more than 20 tonnes and used up to 40 kilometres per year are permitted.
- For off-road use of vehicles in winter, vehicles other than low ground pressure vehicles are allowed to be used over an unlimited distance.
Use of explosives
1,000 kilograms or more in any 30-day period
Construction of underground structures
- A maximum of 100,000 tonnes of rock may be moved to the surface per year.
- A total of 200,000 tonnes moved to the surface is allowed for the duration of the exploration program.
Class 4 exploration program limits
Construction of structures other than underground structures
Structures with foundations are permitted
Number of person-days per camp
More than 250 person-days
Number of people in a camp at any 1 time
More than 10 people
Storage of fuel
- Total amount stored: more than 40,000 litres
- Limit per container: more than 10,000 litres
Construction of lines
- Lines wider than 1.5 metres in width are allowed
- Lines cut with tools that are not hand-held are allowed
Construction of corridors
- Can be more than 10 metres wide
- Can be more than 0.5 kilometres long
Trenching
- Can be more than 5,000 cubic metres per claim per year
- Can be more than 10,000 cubic metres over the life of the exploration program
Clearings
- 8 or more clearings per claim, including existing clearings
- 8 or more clearings for helicopter pads and camps
- The removal of the vegetative mat is permitted
- Clearings can be 400 square metres or more if only trees and brush are removed
- Helicopter pad and camp clearings can be 500 square metres or more
- Clearings can be 1,000 square metres or more if the vegetative mat is removed
Access roads and trails
- Establishing new access roads more than 15 kilometres in length is permitted.
- Upgrading access roads more than 30 kilometres in length is permitted.
- Establishing trails other than temporary trails more than 15 metres in width and 40 kilometres in total length is permitted.
- For each exploration program, the establishment or use of temporary trails more than 15 metres in width and 40 kilometres in total length is permitted.
- For use of vehicles on existing roads, vehicles must weigh within the design limits of the road. If the design limits are unknown, these must weigh less than 40 tonnes for roads and 20 tonnes for trails.
- For off-road use of vehicles in summer, vehicles with a gross weight of more than 20 tonnes and used up to 40 kilometres per year are permitted.
- For off-road use of vehicles in winter, vehicles other than low ground pressure vehicles are allowed to be used over an unlimited distance.
Use of explosives
1,000 kilograms or more in any 30-day period
Construction of underground structures
- A maximum of 100,000 tonnes of rock may be moved to the surface per year.
- A total of 200,000 tonnes moved to the surface is allowed for the duration of the exploration program.
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