Overview

As of July 1, 2025, the new Ontario Regulation 463/24: Recovery of Minerals regulation under the Mining Act will come into effect.

A mineral recovery permit authorizes the extraction of residual minerals from tailings and other mine wastes on existing or abandoned mine sites where previous mining activities have taken place. The regulation provides a streamlined permitting process that will allow recovery of minerals activities to occur faster without requiring a closure plan.

Apply for a recovery permit

If you want to undertake a mineral recovery activity, you must complete:

Use the guide to complete your application

The guide to applying for a mineral recovery permit (PDF, referred to as the guide) provides additional information on how to complete a mineral recovery permit application. We recommend you consult the guide when you complete your application to ensure your submission is complete.

Incomplete application

If your application is incomplete, we will return your application noting what further information is required.

Contact us

For questions related to preparing an application for a mineral recovery permit contact:

Mineral Development Branch, Ministry of Energy and Mines,
933 Ramsey Lake Road, Sudbury Ontario P3E 6B5
Telephone: 705-670-5787 
Email: PartVIISubmissions@ontario.ca

Pre-submission meeting with the ministry

Before you submit a recovery permit application, we strongly encourage you to request a pre-submission meeting to discuss your project. This will allow staff to provide advice on how to submit a complete application, including any supporting documents and help minimize delays in the review process.

Lands excluded from recovery

As per Subsection 152.2 (2) of the Mining Act, certain lands are excluded from recovery. You may not apply for a recovery permit on excluded lands. This includes lands withdrawn under subsection 35 (1) of the Act. The Minister may also designate specified lands to be excluded from recovery permit activities. The designated lands for exclusion (PDF) include:

  • lands where the province has invested or intends to invest significant funding for rehabilitation
  • active and inactive uranium mines, including federally regulated sites, as well as inactive asbestos mines, which pose a significant risk to public health and safety and the environment

Recovery and remediation plan

You must include a recovery and remediation plan with your application. The plan must describe:

  • the land where the tailings or other waste materials are located
  • how you would recover the minerals or mineral bearing substances
  • how you would remediate the land and ensure public health and safety and the environment is comparable to or better than it was before the recovery, as determined by the Minister
  • the estimated costs of the recovery and remediation
  • a proposed schedule for the recovery and remediation
  • any other information specified by the regulations

Note that we may need supporting technical documents for some projects. You can refer to the guide to determine what supporting technical documents we may need for your project or contact us for a pre-submission meeting.

Landowner consent

You must provide written consent from all owners of land (surface and mining rights) who are not the applicant or the Crown associated with the proposed activity where the tailings or other mine waste are located.

Arrangements with a surface rights owner could include:

  • instructions for site access
  • limitations on days or hours of work
  • advanced notification of activity commencement

You can refer to the guide for details on what you must provide when obtaining landowner consent.

Financial assurance

You may be required to provide financial assurance depending on the complexity of the proposed activities. You must provide estimated costs to:

  • recover tailings and other mine wastes
  • remediate the site

The estimated costs will form the basis of the Minister’s consideration of the appropriate amount of financial assurance. The Minister has discretion to require a different amount where appropriate.

Aboriginal consultation

Once you submit your complete application, we will give direction about consultation with Indigenous communities. The direction will identify the Indigenous communities you need to notify. You may need to:

  • prepare a proposed plan for consultation with Indigenous communities for review by the Minister
  • establish a schedule for making interim reports to the Minister
  • fulfil additional consultation obligations considered appropriate in the circumstances

Refer to the Consultation framework: implementing the duty to consult with Aboriginal communities on mineral exploration and mine production in Ontario for general guidance on Aboriginal consultation.