We have a once in a generation opportunity. New mining legislation will rewrite the outdated Placer and Quartz Mining Acts, bringing mining in the Yukon into the 21st century and reforming the entire cycle of a mine.
You don’t need to be an expert on mining to share your vision, values, and hopes. The decisions we make about mineral development are ultimately also decisions on how we steward the land. Some of these topics may sound jargony but they link to core ideas that matter to everyone: honouring rights and values, taking responsibility, equitable sharing, and treating the land with respect.
We can safeguard people, animals, water, and land through stronger mining laws. We can ensure that our territory’s long-term health and prosperity are not compromised for short-term profit.
How do we determine the worth of the land? The current free entry system prioritizes mineral development over other rights and values. Anyone 18 or older can drive a series of posts into the ground, and be granted exclusive mineral rights and the ability to conduct initial exploration work. There is no such system to protect a beloved berry patch, habitat for wildlife, or cultural landscape.
Because of the rights bestowed when claims are staked, they hold tremendous leverage over land use planning decisions.
In the Dawson Region, for example, mining claims are determining which parts of the Fortymile caribou herd’s range receive the strongest protections. While the draft land use plan safeguards the heart of the herd’s range in Wëdzey Nähuzhi/Matson Uplands, the boundaries carefully avoid quartz mining claims, leaving the herd’s critical migration route at risk.
Map and photo by Malkolm Boothroyd.
The Yukon does not have a framework to take back (expropriate) mining claims when they become incompatible with other plans for the land, like new conservation areas. Our system relies on the courts instead of having clear rules and expectations for compensation. The resulting uncertainty can make the Yukon government hesitant to designate an area for protection, even when ecological and cultural values clearly outweigh mining values.
How did we get here?
Mining touches many parts of life in the Yukon. It has shaped the territory, but the current mining laws have resulted in many headlines like the ones below. Profits have been private, while the costs have too often been passed onto the Yukon’s lands, wildlife, and people.
Articles from the Yukon News on the Wolverine mine, Tsé Tagé/Beaver River watershed, Minto Mine. Article from The Narwhal on the free entry system. Background photo by Malkolm Boothroyd.
Over the summer of 2020, hundreds of people offered input on the Mineral Development Strategy. Many Yukoners called for big changes to how mining works in the Yukon. The final strategy was released in Spring 2021, and replacing the Placer Mining and Quartz Mining Acts with new legislation was one of the recommendations. Our Conservation Manager, Randi Newton, took a deep dive and shared her thoughts on the strengths and weaknesses of the strategy and how it created momentum to reimagine mining.
Over 100 Yukoners completed a survey in spring 2023 on the approaches being considered for the new legislation. The Yukon government and First Nations governments will use feedback as they continue to work on developing a new minerals legislation. Check out the What We Heard report based on submissions.
Stories about mining in the Yukon
