As the province touts a faster-than-expected reduction in backlogged mining permit applications, industry says it has yet to feel much of a difference from the efforts.
"By and large, we haven't seen drastic improvements," said Gavin Dirom, president and CEO of the Association for Mineral Exploration BC.
"We're still hearing ... of delays taking many, many months."
In mid-July, the government announced an 84% reduction in the 2011 notice-of-work application backlog. A notice of work is the initial permit needed to carry out exploration on Crown land.
The government stated that it was ahead of schedule, with just 37 applications left. Its original target was 46. When the initiative was launched last September as part of the BC Jobs Plan, there were 229 backlogged applications.
The government added that it has cut the average turnaround time for the permits to 85 days from 110 in 2011. Its goal is 60 days.
While Dirom commended the government for its efforts, he said its faster-than-expected results are logical because notice-of-work applications appear to be down by about 30% thus far in 2012. That frees up government capacity to tackle the backlog.
He added that the dip in volume should enable government to continue to beat its timelines for red-tape reduction.
Dirom said the 85-day mark is hurting B.C.'s competitiveness.
"That's just not reasonable in terms of what most jurisdictions that we're in competition with are able to do."
He added that the 60-day target doesn't have to be an end point.
"There's many in the industry that still call for a commitment of 30 days for notices of work."
Dirom said the industry is also keen to see the government implement online tracking of notice-of-work applications.
The Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations said that initiative is expected to be implemented by January 2013.
Karina Brińo, president and CEO of the Mining Association of BC, said the province's exploration companies are more concerned about notices of work than her membership of producers. But she supported government efforts to reduce red tape.
Both Brińo and Dirom said B.C.'s mining sector is now closely watching to see how the federal government delivers on its budget promise to reduce environmental review duplication.
Dirom said the budget commitment has generated "a lot of optimism" but that industry is waiting to see how regulations are developed.
A key question, he said, is how the federal government will implement "equivalency," under which a provincial environmental assessment could meet federal standards and effectively replace a federal review.
Brińo said the federal government is moving fast on consultation and developing regulations, but she estimated that the regulations won't be released until next year. •
