Peel staking ban to be extended

The Yukon government “does expect” to extend the mineral staking ban in the Peel watershed, Premier Darrell Pasloski told the legislature Tuesday.

The moratorium on new mineral claims and oil/gas/coal dispositions was scheduled to expire May 4.

When first asked about it by NDP leader Liz Hanson, the premier dodged the question.

“Part of the deliberations that we have is also reviewing the decision on the withdrawal of staking on the affected areas within the Peel watershed area and that is part of the diligence that we’re doing. We look forward to announcing a decision on that soon,” Pasloski said.

Quizzed a second time, he was a bit more forthcoming, but only after a wordy preamble about consulting with First Nations and meeting Umbrella Final Agreement obligations.

“In the interim, this government certainly does expect to continue the withdrawal of the lands within the Peel watershed region,” he said. 

Cabinet spokesman Matthew Grant confirmed by email the staking ban will be extended, but wouldn't say for how long. More details will be announced “in the next few days,” he said.

The staking ban was first imposed in February 2010 for a year. It’s been extended several times since then, the last time for just eight months.

Earlier this year, the government renewed its parallel "relief order” for holders of the more than 8,400 quartz claims in the watershed. It's now good until February 2014. Under the order, all claims are automatically renewed each year for free.

When the Peel commission started work on the land use plan in late 2004, there were about 1,500 mineral claims in the region. A staking rush soon followed, resulting in more than 11,000 claims in good standing by 2009.  

More than 2,500 claims had expired and exploration work had ground to a halt by the time the government stepped in to waive the annual fee of $100 in cash or equivalent work.