Note: This information is provided as a general guideline to the Placer Mining Act. A thorough knowledge of the Placer Mining Act (PMA) is recommended for anyone with ongoing exploration or production activities in Yukon.
Mineral tenure is granted under the free entry system in Yukon. This system gives individuals exclusive rights to publicly-owned mineral substances from the surface of their claim to an unlimited extension vertically downward from the boundary of the claim or lease. All Commissioner’s lands are open for staking and mineral exploration unless they are expressly excluded or withdrawn by order-in-council (e.g. parks, interim-protected lands, buildings, dwelling houses, cemeteries, agricultural lands, settlement lands).
Prospecting
A prospecting license is not required in Yukon. Anyone 18 years of age or older, anyone approved by any corporation authorized to carry on business in Yukon, or anyone on behalf of someone else 18 years of age or older may enter on available land for mining purposes, locate, prospect and mine for gold and other precious minerals or stones.
Mineral Claims
A claim is a parcel of land located or granted for placer mining. A claim also includes any ditches or water rights used for mining the claim, and all other things belonging to or used in the working of the claim for mining purposes.
Size of a Placer Claim
A claim is a rectangular plot of ground. All angles of a claim must be right angles, except in the cases where a boundary line of a previously located claim is adopted as common to both locations. The length of a regular placer claim from post one to post two is 500 feet along a baseline. Co-discovery claims must not exceed 1250 feet each, and single discovery claims must not exceed 1500 feet.
Staking a Claim
Before staking a claim, an individual or company should reference the relevant maps available at the Mining Recorder Office to determine where land is available for staking and where areas have been withdrawn from staking.
Staking a claim in Yukon requires that posts be placed in the ground according to regulated requirements. The Mining Recorder Offices have staking guides (PDF 335KB) available, including information such as dimensions of a post and details of the information which must be placed on the post. Yukon uses a two-post system with the claim lying on one side of the line joining the two posts.
Recording a Claim
Once a claim is located it must be recorded with the district Mining Recorder. Claims within a 10-mile radius of the Mining Recorder Office must be recorded within 15 days of staking. For each additional 10 miles that the claim is located from the Mining Recorder Office, one day is added to the deadline.
An application to record a claim must be submitted with all fees ($10 per claim) and a sketch of claims. Payment can be made in person, through the mail or over the telephone with a credit card. A claim is not considered to be received until the fees have been collected by the Mining Recorder Office. The date that the ‘Application to Record’ form and fees are received is considered the recording date (anniversary date).
Work must be performed on every claim unless groupings are filed. Claims must be grouped before work begins. An application can be made to group adjoining claims; the maximum number of claims per grouping. Grouping allows work to be performed on one or more claims and can be distributed to any or all other claims in the group. Each grouping requires a sketch showing the selected claims.
Grant for Placer Mining
Grants for the right to placer mine, and the renewal of such grants, are issued for the sole purpose of prospecting, exploring and mining for gold and other precious minerals or stones, as defined by the Placer Mining Act (PDF 387KB).
Work must have a direct bearing on the exploration, mine development and recovery of placer gold and other precious minerals or stones, in accordance with the Schedule of Representation Work (PDF 883KB). The work must show clearly that it is being performed in support of mining the claim, or the systematic mining of a group of claims.
Work performed for the purpose of maintaining a claim for commercial purposes, other than placer mining, or for supporting the residential occupation of a claim, or any other activities not related to the mining of the claim, will not be accepted for the purpose of renewing placer claims.
The owner of a placer claim cannot give permission to a third party to occupy the surface for any purpose other than placer mining. If third party arrangements are made for the surface use of the land for non-mining activity, action may be taken against the owner of the claim.
Lapsing of Mineral Claims
The holder of a claim may abandon or relinquish any rights to his/her claims. If assessment work is not performed on a claim, the claim will lapse. There is a 14-day grace period, after the expiry of the claim, during which assessment work which was done prior to the expiry date of the claim may be recorded without penalty. Work filed after the grace period, but before the six month anniversary of the claim’s expiration, is subject to penalty fees. Work cannot be filed more than six months after the expiry date of the claim. The applicant should contact the Mining Recorder Office prior to the expiry day of the claim in order to ensure familiarity with all additional conditions of filing work in penalty.
Surveying Claims
If there is a dispute regarding claim boundaries, the holder of a claim may apply to have the claims surveyed. All surveys of mining claims must be completed by a Canada Lands Surveyor. The Survey Notice Form (is there one for placer) must be completed and submitted to the Mining Recorder Office.
Disputes and Procedures
The Yukon Surface Rights Board has jurisdiction to resolve disputes over access to privately-held land, including Yukon First Nation Settlement Land. It also has jurisdiction to resolve disputes over the competing rights of surface and sub-surface users of land, including Settlement Land. The Surface Rights Board will also determine compensation for the expropriation of Settlement Land. An order of the Surface Rights Board will have the same legal effect as an order of the Yukon Supreme Court.
Lease to Prospect
Prospecting leases are dispositions of land granted under the Placer Mining Act (PDF 387KB) for the purpose of testing and prospecting ground for placer deposits. Prospecting leases cannot be mined.
With reference to baselines prospecting leases are staked in the same manner as placer claims, but cover a greater distance (up to a maximum of 5 miles). The purpose of a prospecting lease is to offer an applicant the opportunity to test a large area and the exclusive right to stake the ground to claims.
