New N.B. Mineral Resources Act aims to streamline development approvals

Natural Resources Minister John Herron, President of the New Brunswick Prospectors and Developers Association Robert Murray, Falkirk head of public policy Jon Robinson, and Premier Susan Holt are pictured on the front lawn of the New Brunswick Legislature. (Avery MacRae/CTV News Atlantic)

Just a few months after unveiling a new comprehensive minerals strategy, the New Brunswick government continues to bolster its focus on the sector.

Natural Resources Minister John Herron introduced the new Mineral Resources Act Wednesday at the provincial legislature. He says the act will be the foundation in creating a predictable and timely regulatory framework to develop minerals across the country.

“Canada wants to be the go-to jurisdiction for the supply of critical minerals,” Herron told reporters. “What we’re trying to signal is that we want to be the leading jurisdiction in the country with respect to being agile, with respect to the development of critical minerals.”

The over 70-page bill details how the province would be able to streamline the approval process for mining startups, while at the same time strengthening environmental protections and introducing measures to prevent abandoned mines down the line.

The act supports the province’s recently released economic development strategy, in which critical minerals were identified as a “competitive advantage” for New Brunswick.

The new act will also replace the existing Mining Act, which was introduced in 1985.

The legislation would allow the government to streamline project approvals by:

• co-ordinating a single-process approval pathway with clear timelines
• strengthening engagement with First Nations and communities
• enhancing financial assurance, as well as closure and long-term monitoring requirements
• improving transparency and permitting predictability through modern regulatory tools.

The minister was adamant First Nations would have plenty of involvement in the process of improving projects, referring to them as “rights holders” of the land.

Herron was then asked how a streamline approval process and stronger consultation with First Nations and the general public go hand-in-hand.

“Simple answer is it has to,” Herron says. “It’s not a one-legged stool, it has to be environmentally responsible. New Brunswickers need to be able to believe and understand that we are going to continue to test project proponents at every corner where necessary.”

He says consultations on mining starts will vary depending on the area, pointing out areas like the Bathurst Mining camp where a mine is already existing may not need as much public discussion, given residents have a better understanding of what comes with the site being in operation.

The only mine currently operating in New Brunswick according to Herron is the Picadilly salt mine located just outside of Sussex, N.B., operated by Nutrien.

Herron knows the province’s bread and butter when it comes to generating GDP is the forestry sector, but he says under the new act, forestry could see mining as “kind of its strong junior brother.”

“Mining represented about seven per cent of our GDP,” says Herron back when he was first elected as a member of parliament back in the late 1990s. “Given the fact that there’s so much interest in critical minerals, that seven per cent, I’m really optimistic that we will not just meet that target… within a decade or sooner.”

Jon Robinson is the head of public policy at a company called Falkirk, a consulting company that focuses on environmental projects such as mining. He is also part of a group working to create the Mining Association of New Brunswick alongside the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters Association.

He says the association did exist in the ‘90s, before dissolving in the 2000s much like the province’s mining sector.

“We see an opportunity to bring it back and capture this opportunity with mining in New Brunswick,” says Robinson. “It’s very exciting.”

The sentiment is echoed by Robert Murray, president of the New Brunswick Prospectors and Developers Association.

He says the new legislation lays a clearer picture to mining companies how they will set up and run their business throughout the mine’s timeline. Murray says it will make New Brunswick a place known worldwide as a premier place to dig for minerals.

In his job as a prospector, Murray will go out and find metal occurrences and then try to attract mining companies to develop the site. It’s something he says has been difficult to do in the province in recent years.

“It was really difficult to talk about New Brunswick to mid-tier to upper-tier mining companies and to get any kind of traction with them in the last few years,” he says. “That’s totally changed. Now I’m dialoguing and having conversations with companies like Rio Tinto Tech, BHP, things of that nature, and they’re saying that New Brunswick is now finally on their map in terms of what they’re looking for.”

But with all the positivity around the new act comes skepticism.

Leader of the official opposition Glen Savoie says the government has just simply unveiled another mining strategy that leaves more questions than answers, with no immediate impact.

“Is this government going to be a price giver or a price taker?” Savoie questions. “Is there going to be a price floor for certain of these minerals? What is that going to be? And who is responsible for the price floor? Is that going to take away from the government’s profit or the people’s profit on these minerals? We don’t know.”

The involvement of First Nations in the new act was also questioned by Savoie. Herron admitted he had only recently seen the new act himself, leaving Savoie uncertain if First Nations leaders have had as much say as the province is letting on.

Green Party Leader David Coon says the bill itself has no specific mention of First Nations involvement.

He also questions how the province’s goal of being among the most competitive places in the world to mine goes alongside sustainable development.

“Sisson (mine) could be far more sustainable if it were developed with dry stack storage for the tailings, rather than submerging them under a massive artificial water body behind a huge dam,” Coon says as an example.

“But it’s more expensive to do that, so it makes it less competitive to do the right thing that would be consistent with a sustainable approach to develop mining, and that’s dry stack storage. Much safer from the environment doesn’t pose a risk to the Nashwaak Watershed than to do the standard old-fashioned, gigantic sort of tailing pond and dam arrangement for toxic tailing.”

He says the new bill is an opportunity for the province to modernize an old but important piece of legislation, but isn’t convinced it will greatly improve environmental protection.

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