Regional Mining Offices For questions about what you can do on a claim, or whether you need a permit to work a claim. In the field, the law is sorta whatever the inspectors say it is, and the inspectors work out of the regional offices.
Legislation Page Mineral Tenure Act Mineral Tenure Act Regulation
Information Updates
Pump Intake Screening Rules (PDF)
Note: you need a Business BCeID because you can use it to get new placer claims from the government - they consider that to be business.
Free Miner Certificate - apply for a FMC at any Service BC office or at any FrontCounter BC location. There is a form you can download on the Forms Page.
(To Renew a FMC, Logon to the Mineral Titles Online system and select the "FMC Client" tab.)
FAQ Frequently Asked Questions
Fees (PDF) - Free Miner Certificate, acquiring and maintaining (ie. renewing) a claim, etc.
Recreational Panning Reserves where anyone can pan for gold and no one can acquire a claim
Placer Areas (PDF) A small map showing Placer Areas in BC
Forms & Publications with links to pages for: General Information, How To Guides, Maps and Forms
Forms with links to many of the forms you might need and related information, including the Physical Work Report Form, a link to the Landowner Notification page
Data & GIS with links to datasets, viewers, maps and publications
Online Applications including:
Suction Dredges in bedrock canyons (PDF) -
Water Sustainability Act main page
Environmental Management Act - referred to in the "1.5 inch pump" rule, above
Health, Safety and Reclamation Code for Mines - Many rules for large mines, aspects for all mines, little for the small-scale miner to memorize if the miner has no employees and no one enters pits and, particularly, trenches.
WorkSafeBC - For large-scale mines and/or mines that have employees
Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations For cutting trees - this page asks for a username and password twice, but you can click on "Cancel" both times and you can see the page.
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