Construction and Operation
Last updated on December 3, 2024Mines Act permits for construction and operation activities regulate all components of a mine including production volumes, infrastructure, health and safety, mine plans and areas, reporting requirements, and reclamation requirements.
Along with the Mines Act and the Health, Safety and Reclamation Code for Mines in B.C., Mines Act permits regulate the works and activities that occur on a specific mine site. The permit stays with a mine site from initial development work to the time when all reclamation work is satisfactorily fulfilled. An application must be made to the chief permitting officer to create a new permit or to change an existing permit.
Mineral and coal construction and operation projects are managed though one of the following four permitting paths, defined by project impacts and complexity:
- Notices of deemed authorization
- Departures from approval
- Non-coordinated permit amendments
- Coordinated permit amendments
Permits for construction and operation activities are managed by the major mines office.
Permitted mine area, major mine
A permitted mine area (PMA) represents the spatial extent of the activities authorized under the Mines Act permit.
The PMA includes:
- Mine infrastructure approved under the permit
- Mine disturbance approve under the permit
- Management buffers around the surface and subsurface disturbance
- ~50m for linear disturbances (roads, pipelines, powerlines)
- ~100m for all other disturbance types
PMA and management buffers consider site-specific factors where appropriate.
The permit includes a "Figure 1" map that shows the PMA boundary. PMA's approved under the Mines Act permit are available to the public.
Read the Major Mines Authorizations Guide (PDF, 1.7MB) to learn more about permitting major mineral and coal mines.
Contact information
Construction and operations permits for major mineral and coal mines are managed by the major mines office.
permrecl@gov.bc.ca