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Chapter D8 ver. 3

MINERAL CLAIM SURVEYS IN THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES AND NUNAVUT

Table of Contents

Effective Date

This Chapter is effective June 17, 2011. It replaces Chapter D8 as Published July 1981 in the General Instructions for Surveys of Canada Lands, e-Editions.

Chapter Sections

Introduction

Prior to 1929, under the Quartz Mining Regulations, mineral claims in what is now the Northwest Territories and Nunavut were defined by a two post system - each end of a baseline was marked with a claim post and call distances to the left and right from the 'Number 1' location post (defined as "legal posts" under the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Mining Regulations, C.R.C., c. 1516) defined the extent of the claim. The maximum claim size was 51.65 acres. In 1929 the system was changed to a four post system, where each corner of the claim was marked with a claim post. In 1960, under the Canada Mining Regulations, perimeter surveys of a group of adjoining claims were introduced. Finally, in 1977 the maximum claim size was increased to 2,582.5 acres, with location posts placed a maximum of 1,500 feet apart along the claim boundaries, with tags on each one of the four corner posts.

A mineral claim staked under the current legislation (Northwest Territories and Nunavut Mining Regulations) in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut can be held for up to 10 years from the date of recording. Thereafter, the claim will lapse if it is not taken to lease. A lease is also required when the value of ore or minerals to be removed from the claim exceeds $100,000. One of the requirements to take a mineral claim to lease includes a legal survey to demarcate the boundaries of the mineral claim.

A number of older claims in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, staked prior to Nov.15, 1977 under the former Quartz Mining Regulations, are still active. In order to correctly survey the boundaries of one of these old claims the surveyor should be familiar with the mining regulations that correspond to the date of the staking of the claim; the position of the boundaries of a mineral claim is governed by the legislation in force at the time that the claim was staked.

In this Chapter the common term 'staker' (and various forms thereof) is to be considered synonymous with the term 'locator', used in the current Northwest Territories and Nunavut Mining Regulations.

General Provisions

  1. Legal surveys of mineral claims are required under the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Mining Regulations to define the boundaries of subsurface interests for lease purposes. Legal surveys may also be required to define the boundaries of dredging rights for lease purposes under the Territorial Dredging Regulations.
  2. Specific survey instructions are required for legal surveys under the Territorial Dredging Regulations, C.R.C., c. 1523.
  3. The position of the boundaries of a mineral claim is governed by the legislation in force at the time that the claim was staked. The legal survey of the claim shall comply in every particular with the provisions of this legislation.
  4. It is the surveyor's responsibility to gather all the information that is pertinent to the survey. A number of older, still active claims were staked under the former Quartz Mining Regulations; in order to correctly survey the boundaries of a claim staked prior to Nov.15, 1977 the surveyor should be familiar with the mining regulations that correspond to the date of the staking of the claim.
  5. Sources of information and documentation include:
    1. For surveys of mineral claims in the Northwest Territories or those surveys straddling the boundary between the Northwest Territories and Nunavut:
      1. the office of the Surveyor General Branch (SGB) in Yellowknife for survey related documents (web site address: sgb-dag.nrcan-rncan.gc.ca/index_e.php);
      2. the office of the Mining Recorder in Yellowknife for information on the current status of claims, and documents pertaining to mineral rights such as applications to record (A-forms), with the corresponding staker's sketches, for both the subject and adjacent claims. (web site address: www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ai/scr/nt/erd/mm/mro/index-eng.asp)
    2. For surveys of mineral claims in Nunavut:
      1. the office of the Surveyor General Branch (SGB) in Iqaluit for survey related documents (web site address: www.sgb-dag.nrcan-rncan.gc.ca/index_e.php);
      2. the office of the Mining Recorder in Iqaluit for information on the current status of claims, and documents pertaining to mineral rights such as applications to record, with the corresponding staker's sketches, for both the subject and adjacent claims. (web site address: http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ai/scr/nu/index-eng.asp)
  6. Every claim to be surveyed or, in the case of a perimeter survey, a group of claims, is designated by a lot number that shall be issued with the survey instructions obtained from the regional office of the SGB. When applying for survey instructions the surveyor shall give the claim names and record numbers, identify the number of claims located in each 1:50,000 NTS quad and the number of lot numbers required in each, and provide the best information available to position the claims on the NTS grid.
  7. Chapter D1 of the General Instructions for Surveys, e-Edition, applies to mineral claim surveys insofar as they are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Chapter.

Surveys of Claims Staked on or after Nov. 15, 1977 under the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Mining Regulations

Boundary Definition

  1. The following instructions apply to the survey of mineral claims staked on or after Nov.15, 1977 under the authority of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Mining Regulation.
  2. The boundaries of a mineral claim are defined by all of the location posts shown on the staker's sketch as having been placed by the licensee; the staker's sketch and A-form are the documents that the Mining Recorder has accepted as the claim. Substantive variations between what is shown on the staker's sketch and what is found on the ground must be resolved in consultation with the Mining Recorder. Differences between the evidence shown in official documents (A-form, staker's sketch, previous surveys, etc.) and the evidence actually found and accepted shall be addressed in the survey report.
  3. Any number of adjoining claims may be surveyed as one lot provided that the aggregate area, as it appears in the applications to record, does not exceed 1,045.1 ha (2,582.5 A.). In this case only those claim boundaries which form part of the perimeter of the lot, or which are necessary to determine the position of any claim corner on this perimeter, need to be surveyed. It is the surveyor's responsibility to ensure that no open ground exists between those claims being surveyed as one lot.
  4. The boundaries of a claim shall be surveyed as straight lines joining the location posts placed by the licensee in staking the claim, provided that:
    1. the boundary of the claim is not defined by the natural boundary of an Inuit Owned Lands (IOL) parcel; and
    2. the surveyor shall exclude from the claim any overlapping prior claim in good standing at the time of staking.
  5. The surveyor does not have the authority to declare a staker's intent to adjoin an adjacent surveyed claim when it is not clearly shown to adjoin on the staker's sketch. The surveyor should consult with the Mining Recorder to determine if the claim boundary could be defined by the previously surveyed boundary of an 'adjacent' claim in those cases where the location posts actually placed by the staker and found by the surveyor would otherwise create a gore.
  6. A mineral claim includes all areas lying within its boundaries, including those covered by water. With the exception of section 14 below, survey ties to these water features are not required.
  7. In those cases such as in Nunavut where a claim boundary has been located along the natural boundary of an Inuit Owned Lands (IOL) parcel and the natural boundary is intended to be the boundary of the claim, only those location posts along the natural boundary that define intersections of the claim boundary with the natural boundary need to be located, surveyed, and monumented. The natural boundary segment between these intersections shall either be surveyed or mapped.
  8. Any overlapping prior claim in good standing shall be excluded from the claim being surveyed. If the prior claim is unsurveyed, the boundaries of the prior claim shall be determined to an extent sufficient to establish the boundaries common to both claims. This information is to be included in the field notes. If an overlapping prior claim divides the claim being surveyed into two or more separate areas, the surveyor shall give notice to the Mining Recorder that the claim is comprised of more than one separate area of land.
  9. If a previously surveyed claim was current at the time of the staking of the claim to be surveyed and forms a common boundary with the claim being surveyed, the existing line shall be retraced and a search for evidence of the claim being surveyed shall be made. The retracement of the previous survey and all evidence found of the claim being surveyed shall be incorporated in the field note.

In the case where the line has been run personally by the surveyor at some previous date, the line does not need to be surveyed again if a proper closure can be effected without so doing. All new evidence and the information from the previous survey shall be incorporated in the field notes and dated accordingly.

Disputes

  1. In the case of a dispute it is the duty of the surveyor to note all adverse overlapping claims as they are found, to show them in the field notes and on the plan of survey, and to address the overlaps in the survey report. The surveyor has no authority to decide priority of rights.
  2. In surveying a claim of which the extent is in dispute with another claim the surveyor shall identify on the plan all the intersections of the boundaries of the two claims. If the other claim is unsurveyed its boundaries shall be surveyed to an extent sufficient to determine the intersections and the full extent of the overlap.

Monumentation

  1. A monument shall, except as in 20, or 23 below, be placed:
    1. for each location post and witness location post shown on the staker's sketch as having been placed by the staker to define the boundaries of the claim, or in the case of a perimeter survey, those claim boundaries that constitute the perimeter;
    2. at every intersection of the surveyed claim boundaries with the boundaries of overlapping prior claims;
    3. at each location post and witness location post of the overlapping prior claim used in the determination of the intersection (b) above; and
    4. at every intersection of the claim boundary with the boundary of land on which the adjacent mineral rights are held by a third party, such as an entity of land claim beneficiaries.
  2. In those cases, such as in Nunavut, where location posts have been placed along the natural boundary of an IOL parcel, monuments are not to be placed at those location posts marking the natural boundary except as in sections 14 and 19 (d).
  3. A monument shall be placed where the location post or witness location post is found.
  4. Where it is determined that the location called for by a witness location post actually falls on dry land, a monument shall also be placed at the location defined by the witness location post.
  5. When the location post of the claim being surveyed is found at a monument previously erected during the survey of an adjoining claim, the surveyor shall accept the monument of the adjoining surveyed claim as that of the claim being surveyed. The surveyor shall read and record the existing monument markings and add inscriptions to the monument already set, if possible.
  6. Where, under paragraph 54(8)(b) of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Mining Regulations, the surveyor is directed by the holder to reduce a claim, a new location post shall be established, pursuant to section 23 of the said regulations, to mark the new corner of the claim. The cut-off line shall be monumented at intervals not exceeding 457.2 metres (1,500 feet).
  7. The following monuments shall be used to demarcate the boundaries of a mineral claim:
    1. a C. L. S. pattern post as described in sections 5 to 10 of Chapter D1 of these instructions; or
    2. a mild steel bar not less than 1.5 cm square and 75 cm long driven into the ground so that no more than 15 cm protrudes above ground level; or
    3. a mild steel bar not less than 1.5 cm square and not less than 23 cm long cemented in rock with not more than 15 cm protruding.
  8. Ancillary monuments shall be placed at each monument that defines the boundary of the claim being surveyed in accordance with Chapter D1 of these General Instructions for Surveys. Do not place ancillary monuments at monuments that are not on the boundary being surveyed; e.g. monuments placed to mark claim overlaps or as per section 19 (c).
  9. All monuments marking the boundaries of a claim or a group of claims shall be numbered consecutively clockwise beginning if possible, at the north-easterly corner. The inscription shall be in the form # L#### where '#' is the number of the monument and '####' is the number of the lot.
  10. Monuments placed at witness location posts shall also be marked "WT" with the distance and cardinal direction to the corner.

Documentation

FIELD NOTES

  1. Prepare field notes in one of the forms prescribed in Chapter D1 of these General Instructions for Surveys.
  2. In addition to the information prescribed in Chapter D1 the following are also to be added to the field notes of surveys of mineral claims:
    1. the name of each claim surveyed is to be given in the title; and
    2. the inscriptions on all found location posts and witness location posts.
  3. The abbreviations LP for location post and WP for witness location post may be used without explanation.
  4. When a witness monument has been installed where the staker has placed a witness location post to designate an inaccessible corner of a claim, the witness bearing shall be referenced to the astronomical meridian at the witness location post.

PLAN OF SURVEY

  1. Prepare a plan of survey in accordance with the specifications in Chapter D1 of these General Instructions for Surveys. The plan scale shall not be less than 1: 5,000 for fully surveyed claims containing less than 25 hectares or 1: 10,000 for other mineral claim surveys.
  2. Depict natural and man made features in sufficient detail to help identify the geographical position of the claims. Describe the source of this information in the legend.
  3. In addition to the information prescribed in Chapter D1 include the following on the plan of a mineral claim survey:
    1. the name of each claim surveyed, shown in the title;
    2. all location posts and witness location posts involved in the survey of the claim being surveyed, with bearings and distances sufficient to correlate these to the boundaries surveyed; and any location posts that are now not on the boundary by virtue of the claim being reduced in area pursuant to section 54(8)(b) of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Mining Regulations;
    3. the name of the claim and claim tag number shown within the claim, together with the lot number and the area (in both hectares and acres);
    4. the inscriptions on all found location posts that are pertinent to the survey;
    5. the acceptance of posts if markings are illegible;
    6. the notation for the establishment of the location of any location posts not found; e.g., FNE NBP1 SIMPLE 1, EST.
    7. the certificate required by paragraph 55(1)(a)(iii) of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Mining Regulations; and
    8. the claim name and tag number for all adjacent claims.
  4. In the case of a perimeter survey of a group of claims show:
    1. in a separate table on the plan (if not shown on the plan body) and not in the title, the name of each claim included in the group and its tag number; and
    2. the name of each claim and its tag number adjoining the perimeter, written in its appropriate position next to the boundary of the group.

RETURNS OF SURVEY

  1. Returns of survey shall be submitted as described in Chapter D1 of these General Instructions for Surveys. When submitting the returns of survey, retain the original plan and field notes until requested. Submit the plan in both DWG and PDF format acceptable to the SGB.
  2. In addition to section 37 above, include the following in PDF format with the returns of survey:
    1. a copy of the "Application To Record a Mineral Claim" form, together with the accompanying staker's sketch, for the claim being surveyed, along with all adjacent claims, currently in place and any claim for which tag information appears on the plan;
    2. any other pertinent information; and
    3. any other items requested by the SGB.

Specimen Plans

Note

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