The president of B.C.sa国际传媒檚 Association for Mineral Exploration (AME) says a pause on changes to the provincesa国际传媒檚 Land Act is a welcome step toward providing the regulatory certainty industry is looking for.

Keerit Jutla was at the Smithers Exploration Groupsa国际传媒檚 (SEG) Rock Talk in Smithers when Nathan Cullen, minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship announced his government would not go ahead with amendments to the Act following months of criticism of the consultation process.

Jutla pivoted his presentation slightly at the annual exploration conference to announce what Cullen had told him just about an hour before he was scheduled to speak. He assured conference attendees the move is an opportunity to create stability for all stakeholders.

sa国际传媒淢y background is I practiced regulatory law and Aboriginal law for about 10 years in Alberta and B.C. and I work with proponents, work with [First] Nations and I have a strong passion for economic reconciliation and DRIPA and Canadasa国际传媒檚 natural resource economy,sa国际传媒� he said.

sa国际传媒淲e all desire and we all are going in the same direction and I think the key thing is just how do we ensure we have a process that collects all of our collective information the right way, so we can build things that work for everyone.sa国际传媒�

Getting it right, he said, is critical for industry, particularly the smaller players, such as junior exploration companies, who rely on access to capital markets and are easily spooked by regulatory uncertainty.

sa国际传媒淭here [are] still some difficulties for capital markets access for many juniors in B.C., and thatsa国际传媒檚 something that we donsa国际传媒檛 want to see is the risk of capital markets freezing out because of regulatory uncertainty,sa国际传媒� he said.

Proposed Land Act amendments were intended to bring legislation in line with B.C.sa国际传媒檚 Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA), something Cullen said was supported by the Legislature, but alienated others.

sa国际传媒淏ut this touched a nerve and a moment in time that we now recognize,sa国际传媒� Cullen said at a hastily arranged news conference at the legislature Feb. 21. sa国际传媒淭he responsible thing for government to do is listen.sa国际传媒�

For its part, AME felt the industry had been left hanging by the process and commended Cullen and the government for taking a step back.

sa国际传媒淚 think all of us need to be very mindful that we, in order to get into the direction that everyone wants to go, we just need to ensure that we take the time and take the due diligence to do it in a way that doesnsa国际传媒檛 create uncertainty,sa国际传媒� Jutla said.

Mineral exploration spending has been on an upward trend for several years. In 2022, the last year for which data is available, investment reached a 10-year high of $740 million.

The lionsa国际传媒檚 share of that investment, 61 per cent, was made in Northwest B.C. where Jutla said the grassroots work of economic reconciliation is taking place. He noted 21 per cent of 2022 spending went to Indigenous-associated businesses.

sa国际传媒淣atural resource development and mineral exploration and mining is very important for communities like Smithers, Terrace, Kamloops, Cranbrook,sa国际传媒� Jutla said. sa国际传媒淎nd itsa国际传媒檚 not just the industry, itsa国际传媒檚 the associated value chain of service companies that are working with it. And these are the companies and folks that are supportive [of] and are working in reconciliation.sa国际传媒�

The Land Act is not the only uncertainty facing the industry, however. In September 2023, the B.C. Supreme Court ruled the province must consult First Nations before mineral claims are registered on their territories following a suit by the Gitxaala First Nation near Prince Rupert.

The Court gave the province 18 months to modernize the Mineral Tenures Act (MTA) in consultation with First Nations and Industry.

Jutla said the commitment to consultation shown by the pause in the Land Act amendment process also bodes well for industry having a seat at the table in rebuilding the MTA.

sa国际传媒淚 think this sets the good stage forsa国际传媒� how do we build a Mineral Tenure Act process?sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淎nd how do we build a staking process pursuant to the court decision that works for everyone? Our members, obviously, for their livelihood, itsa国际传媒檚 their intellectual property for what theysa国际传媒檙e doing, for their ability to explore, but also respecting Indigenous rights. So wesa国际传媒檝e just got to make sure now we all come together to build a system that works for everyone.sa国际传媒�

Chris Ogryzlo, a director on the Smithers Exploration Group board and one of the perennial organizers of Smithers Rock Talk, said there was relief in the room when Jutla announced what Cullen had told him by telephone about an hour before his presentation to the conference.

She said the process created a lot of uncertainty in the industry and conference attendees sa国际传媒� which annually includes representatives of the biggest players such as Newmont Mining right down to individual independent prospectors sa国际传媒� responded positively to the prospect of more in-depth and inclusive consultation.

sa国际传媒淧eople just need to know what the playing field is in British Columbia and are concerned, of course, because capital is hard to come in the current climate,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淪o, yeah, they were pleased that the minister decided to move in that direction.sa国际传媒�

Consultation had been scheduled for completion by the end of March. Cullen gave no timeline for the resumption of the process nor eventual amendment of the Act.

- With files from Wolfgang Depner