Can they take my land?

[figfarmer]

I was just looking at an article that says that people can just come onto your land and rip it up if you don't have mineral rights. I bought some land north of Marlbank where they used to mine marl. When I was 10 they made a big place to put a factory and said they were going to reopen on my sister's land, but never did. How can I find out if I am protected from someone ripping up my retirement? Even if they did it on hers it would be too disruptive for me to live there.

[quazzy]

Hi Fig,

If someone ownes the mineral rights on the same property that you own the surface rights, they cannot do any work on the claims without first informing you of the work program. I also beleive if you own the surface rights they can not establish any sort of mine structure on the property without working out some sort of deal with you first. Here is a link to the online claim map tool. Check out your area. If you have any questions on the subject for your area, call the MNDM with the name of the township you are in and they might be able to answer any questions you have. Hope that helps.

Quaz

[quazzy]

Here is the link:
www.mndm.gov.on.ca/mines/lands/claimap3/disclaimer_e.asp

[stanham]

New Mining Act regulations came into effect last year. One of the provisions was that, in southern Ontario, the subsurface rights were married to the surface rights owners (SRO) if they were available. So, if nobody had claims/leases/patents on those mineral rights, you now own both the surface and sub-surface.

If someone did own them, they need to give you notice, they need to work out an arrangement for access and they need your consent if they want to build anything.

The end result is that nothing is going to happen without a lot of warning, discussions and arrangements made between the two property owners.