A controversial mining permit fee proposal in British Columbia has small scale placer miners and prospectors in the region very concerned. According to the Mines Act Fee Discussion Paper released by the British Columbia Ministry of Energy and Mines in February 2014, the government is considering fees for permits ranging from Notices of Work (NOW) for exploration and sand and gravel operations, to major producing metal and coal mines. The paper states that permit fees will be determined based on the associated costs of processing the application and will be proportional to the range and complexity of mining activities. The paper goes on to explain that the rational for the permit fees is to recover the cost of the permit review process, including corporate administrative services, inspector analysis of permit applications, technical reviews, referral costs and First Nations consultation. If approved, the new fee structure is expected to be effective by the fall of 2014 and would range from $2,000 for small scale placer and mineral/coal exploration activities with a total surface disturbance under 1 hectare, up to $4,000 for up to three hectares, $6,000 for more than three hectares, all the way up to $300,000 for a permit for large scale major mines, expansions and permit amendments. Opponents of the proposal say the fees will hit those who can least afford it, that the principle of charging for a NOW is unfair because of the speculative nature of placer mining, and that any viable mineral deposits are already taxable. According to an article published on Canada’s The Globe and Mail web site, Mines Minister Bill Bennett told the legislature, “It will give the ministry an opportunity to bring a few more resources in to improve our performance.” However Jack Denny, president of the Chamber of Mines for eastern British Columbia, said the proposed fees will hurt job creation by making smaller projects, which are already suffering from a lack of capital, too expensive to explore. Mining critic Scott Fraser added, “This new tax will be felt more profoundly by the smaller exploration companies, placer miners and prospectors – the backbone of the industry.” The Cariboo Mining Association (CMA) echoes this sentiment, and has devoted the home page of their web site to the Mines Act Fee issue, posting the latest updates and a solicitation for volunteers to help in efforts to communicate their opposition to the Ministry of Mines, which accepted comments on the proposal in March. Currently, the Mines Act requires that those who receive approval for a mine or exploration project are responsible for ensuring their applications meet all the requirements of the Mines Act as well as the Health, Safety and Reclamation Code for Mines in British Columbia. The reclamation laws require that the mine site land is restored to a useful state once mining operations have concluded. Analytical analysis of soil and sediment samples at the mine site is an important step in detecting the presence of environmental contaminates that may remain as a result of mining activities. Wavelength dispersive x-ray fluorescence (WDXRF) is a good way to accomplish accurate quantitative analysis of the vast variety of material, matrix types, and concentrations that must be evaluated in soil and sediment analysis. See data and analysis of a WDXRF instrument for this application.
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