Mineral Titles News, Notices and Announcements

Latest news and announcements from the Mineral Titles office.

January 26, 2022 - Cell release planned today for 0800AM will be available at 0900AM PST

At 0900AM PST Mineral Titles Online will be restarted. You will need to log back into MTO after the restart.   Once you log in, the cells planned for release at 0800AM will be available.

January 26, 2022 -  8:00 AM Cell release postponed

Due to time constraints, the planned scheduled release for 8:00AM today is delayed. We will post a notice as soon as the release is ready.

 

January 25, 2022 -  Re-Schedule of Cell Release for Map Blocks 092 and 093

The previously scheduled cell release of cells related to map blocks 092 and 093 has been re-scheduled.

Titles that were acquired over cells related to the January 24, 2022 11:00 am cell release will be cancelled and the acquisition fees will be refunded.

The new schedule for the cell release related to maps 092 and 093 is as follows:

Map Sheet

Date and Time

092K, L, M, N

January 26, 2022 @ 8 am

092I, J, O, P

January 26, 2022 @ 12 Noon

093C, D, E, F

January 26, 2022 @ 3 pm

093A, B, G, H

January 27, 2022 @ 8 am

093L, M

January 27, 2022 @ 12 Noon

093K, N

January 27, 2022 @ 3 pm

093I, J, O, P

January 28, 2022 @ 8 am

092C, E, F

January 28, 2022 @ 12 Noon

092B, G, H

January 28, 2022 @ 3 pm

 

January 25, 2022 -  MTO restart at 10:30h PST, cell acquisition disabled

At 1030h PST  Mineral Titles Online will be restarted. If you are logged in during that time, you will be automatically logged out of the system.  

Please be aware that claim acquisition will be temporarily disabled until a new schedule for cell release is developed.

 

January 24, 2022 - Cell Release of Monday, January 24, 2022 and Tuesday, January 25, 2022

Due to unprecedented demand related to the cell release this morning, Monday, January 24, 2022, the mapping server used by the Mineral Titles Online application for claim acquisition was not able to handle the volume of mapping demands.  As such, many users found the map was either very slow to load or would not load at all.

To ensure free miners have a fair ability to acquire cells, it has been decided that the cell release of today, Monday, January 24, 2022 and for Tuesday, January 25, 2022 is hereby cancelled and will be rescheduled.

Titles that were acquired today over cells related to today’s cell release will be cancelled and the acquisition fees will be refunded.

 

January 21, 2022 - Cell(s) Not Releasing as per Release Schedule

We are aware that some cells are not being released according to the release schedule as expected. We are reviewing these cells. Upon completion of the current release schedule, we will be setting up another release date for these remaining cells. Please watch for a future notice for more details about their release.

 

January 12, 2022 (3:34pm) - MTO Online

Please be advised that Mineral Titles Online is now back online and available.

Clients with claims with good to dates of January 12, 2022 have had a time extension applied to their title. 

 

January 12, 2022 - MTO taken offline temporarily

A number of cells related to legacy claims became available and were acquired. These claims forfeited as a result of the end of the COVID-19 time extension order.

The cells were intended to be released as per the revised schedule posted online.

As the cells were never intended to be released prior to the schedule and to ensure all free miners are given a fair opportunity to register claims, all related claims that were acquired starting on January 11, 2022 are being deleted from the registry as per section 6.36 of the Mineral Tenure Act.

Refunds of claim registration fees related to these claim registrations will be issued.

MTO access will be temporarily disabled today until the issue is resolved. We will notify you when MTO is available.

 

January 10, 2022 - MTO Availability and Emails to recorded holders

The plan is for MTO to be online and available to the public on Tuesday, January 11, 2022 at 1400h PST.

The following letter has been emailed out to recorded holders.

 

January 7, 2022 - Mineral Titles Online Status Update

On December 31, 2021, in order to terminate the effect of the COVID-19 order, it was necessary to update the MTO database, which involved taking MTO offline and updating the registry.

The planned update to the MTO registry resulted in a number of failures and created errors in the MTO production database and caused the forfeiture of a number of claims that were not intended to forfeit. In turn, a number of new claims were immediately registered after midnight on January 1st, 2022.   MTO was turned off at 1200h on January 1st, 2022.

We had previously communicated in a notice posted on the Mineral Titles Branch website on December 6, 2021 that cells related to the end of the COVID-19 time extension order were to be released in a schedule between January 4, 2022 to January 10, 2022. Instead, these cells became available at midnight on December 31, 2021.

Following is a list of steps we have taken to resolve these issues:

  1. The previous cell availability schedule (Jan 4th - 10th) for cell release related to the end of the COVID-19 time extension has been cancelled. A new cell acquisition schedule has been developed as follows:
MTO Cell Release schedule

Mapsheet

Date

114

Thursday January 13, 2022

083

Friday January 14, 2022

102

Monday January 17, 2022

103

Tuesday January 18, 2022

094

Wednesday January 19, 2022

082

Thursday January 20, 2022

104

Friday January 21, 2022

092

Monday January 24, 2022

093

Tuesday January 25, 2022
 
  1. Cells subject to non-COVID-19 time extension orders should not have been released.  Cells subject to the COVID-19 time extension order should only have been released according to the posted schedule. For these reasons all claims registered on January 1, 2022 have been deleted from the registry. Refunds for claim registration fees will be provided.
  1. Titles with time extensions beyond December 31, 2021 were reinstated. The time extension events were reapplied as they previously existed.
  1. Titles with good to dates between January 1, 2022 and January 11, 2022 have been reinstated and granted a short time extension for recorded holders to register work or pay cash in lieu, as recorded holders could not access MTO during this time.

  2. A few recorded holders who tried to register work or make payment on their claims have reported they were not able to do so between 1600h and midnight on December 31, 2021. Their claims have been reinstated with a short time extension applied to allow for the registrations to be completed.  

These steps will be completed by Monday, January 10, 2022.

The plan is for MTO to be online and available to the public on Tuesday January 11th 2022.

 

January 4, 2022 - Mineral Titles Online

MTO remains offline until further notice. The planned release of cells by NTS mapsheet has been cancelled. A new schedule for cell release will be posted here when it is available.

 

January 1, 2022 – Mineral Titles Online Outage / End of Time Extension

At approximately 11:45 am, Mineral Titles Online was taken offline. It will remain offline for the next two days while we resolve the following:

This morning, mineral titles automatically forfeited on December 31, 2021. These titles had time extension orders applied which meant they should not have forfeited. In some cases, the cells within these forfeited claims became available and were reacquired. The cells should not have become available for acquisition. MTO will remain offline while these errors are corrected. 

Further updates will be posted as they become available.

 

November 10, 2021 - MTO IMF2 Map Viewer

MTO IMF2 map viewers (Mineral, Placer, Coal) may be displaying incorrect issue or good to dates for titles.  Please use MTO Title Search or CWM map viewers at this time.

MTO IMF2 map viewers are identified by the blue buttons on the bottom right-hand side of Mineral Titles Online. 

MTO CWW map viewers are identified by the green buttons on the bottom left-hand side of Mineral Titles Online. 

Mineral Titles is working with IT folks to fix the display of dates. Currently, we have identified the Mineral Title - Current (Operational) layer to be affected by the date display. This issue has only been identified in MTO IMF2 map viewers.

 

December 14, 2020 - Mineral Titles Branch office is open

The Mineral Titles Branch Vancouver office is open to in-person service with the following changes:

Do not come to the office if you have:

  • Symptoms of COVID-19 including cough, shortness of breath or fever
  • A sick family member or have been around someone who is sick
  • Not completed required self-isolation

There are new requirements at the office to limit the ongoing spread of COVID-19 to protect the health and well-being of our employees, recorded holders and the public. Some of these changes include:

  • Maximum of 2 persons in the public area.  There is additional waiting space in the hallway.
  • Sanitizer available for use
  • A plexiglass barrier at the front desk
  • The public washrooms are closed
  • Masks must be worn
  • Computer access terminals are not available for public use

We encourage you to take advantage of self-serve resources on our application website.  

We continue to provide assistance by:

           Email: Mineral.Titles@gov.bc.ca
           Voice-Mail: 1-866-616-4999 (must leave a message)

 

June 11, 2020 – Guidance for Mining and Exploration Camps

By order of the PHO, operators in the natural resource sector that provide accommodation at their industrial camps must develop a COVID-19 Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Protocol.

 

March 27, 2020 – Time Extension Order on Claims, Licences and Leases

As the Ministry continues to respond and adapt to the directions and orders issued in response to COVID-19, the Chief Gold Commissioner has issued a blanket Time Extension Order for all claims and leases, as well as all coal licenses and leases. This Order gives more time for recorded holders to register work, make cash in lieu of work payments and make rental payments.

For more information, an Information Sheet is available. If you have any further questions, please visit the Mineral Titles Online Registry system or email Mineral.Titles@gov.bc.ca.

Claims

  • The time to make cash in lieu or register work on claims that have expiry dates before December 31, 2021 is extended to December 31, 2021. Claims with expiry dates past this date are not subject to this Order

Mining and Placer Leases

  • The time to register the annual rental payment, which is normally on the anniversary date, is extended to December 31, 2021

Coal Leases and Licenses

  • The time to register the annual rental payment, which is normally on the anniversary date, is extended to December 31, 2021

Visit the Mineral Titles Online Registry system or email Mineral.Titles@gov.bc.ca for more information.