STUPIDITY WATCH -

There Is Nothing Sacred

There has been a lot of press coverage – almost exclusively anti-mining – of the proposed changes to the U.S. 1872 mining law, but no recent progress in Congress. That’s good. But this month’s follies and foibles include a particularly dangerous turn of events in one of our favorite mining jurisdictions…

Ontario to Bite the Hand That Feeds It?

Reuters reports that a reform proposal has been introduced in Ontario to update that province’s 136-year-old mining law. Included are measures aimed at increasing native communities’ control over their land, recognizing aboriginal and treaty rights, and creating a dispute resolution process for conflicts. In southern Ontario, where most of the province’s population lives, the new rules could withdraw mining rights from privately held land.

On the face of it, this doesn’t seem too bad, as reforms go. At least it doesn’t propose major increases in royalties or taxes payable to the government, and it’s already fairly easy for native populations to hold up projects. So if the new rules establish greater clarity on where mining companies can operate without interference and a sensible process for resolving conflicts, the new act could streamline mineral exploration and development. But that would be exceptionally rational; it seems far more likely that the outcome will be more bureaucratic red tape and ways to impede progress.

We’ll keep an eye on this situation.