About Us

The division has six branches:

Mining Act Modernization Secretariat

Mining Act Modernization is a major initiative with the overall objective of implementing new legislative requirements outlined in the Mining Amendment Act (Bill 173). Implementation requires the development of new business processes, regulations, IT systems and transitional strategies encompassing a wide range of mining–related activities across Ontario.

The Mining Act Modernization Secretariat provides project management, coordination, communication and issues management in all aspects of the project in order to achieve the project objectives, deliverables and timelines. The Secretariat also ensures effective coordination with parallel initiatives such as Open for Business.

The Mineral Development and Lands Branch

The Mineral Development and Lands Branch consists of the Mines Group and the Mining Lands Section:

Mines Group

Encourages, promotes and facilitates the sustained economic development of Ontario's mineral resources in an environmentally responsible manner. It also administers Part VII of the Mining Act, which deals principally with the rehabilitation of mines and mining lands in the province of Ontario.

The Mines Group consists of

• Mineral Development and Commodities Program
• Mine Rehabilitation, Inspection and Compliance Program
• Financial Assurance
• Abandoned Mines Rehabilitation Program

Mining Lands

Provides orderly and equitable processes that ensure public access to crown mineral rights for the exploration and potential development of Mining Lands.

• Provincial Recording Office
• Geoscience Assessment Office
• Dispositions Office
• Technical Services Office

The Ontario Geological Survey Branch

The Ontario Geological Survey (OGS) is the Provincial Government organization mandated to describe the geology of Ontario, which includes:

• The rocks, the sediments and soils which cover them.
• The minerals that occur within the rocks.
• The groundwater that occurs beneath the Earth's surface.
• The non-renewable energy sources that occur within the rocks geological materials.

The Ontario Geological Survey consists of the following sections:

• Director's Office
  (Program co-ordination, OGS national and international representation)
• Precambrian Geoscience Section
  (Precambrian geology, mineral deposits, regional geophysics)
• Sedimentary Geoscience Section
  (Aggregate resources, industrial minerals, groundwater, Quaternary (surficial) geology, Paleozoic geology, surficial geochemistry)
• Resident Geologists Program
  (Local expert geoscience service delivery, advice, exploration opportunities, local geological expertise, Mineral Deposit Inventory and assessment files, input to land-use planning)
• Geoscience Laboratories
  (Inorganic geochemical analysis of rocks, minerals, waters and soils, and production of reference standards)
• Information and Marketing Services
  (Publication sales, digital data distribution, cartography, scientific editing, sector statistics and analysis, reference library services, mineral investment promotion)

The Diamond Sector Unit Branch

The Diamond Sector Unit provides leadership in developing key policies and the legislative/regulatory framework for Ontario's emerging diamond industry. The Unit operates the valuation process for Ontario diamonds including administrative processes for verifying and collecting royalties.

Working with the Northern Development Division, other provincial ministries and the diamond sector, the Unit pursues value-added opportunities and new exploration and investment in Ontario.

Staff establish and maintain positive working relationships with diamond explorationists, companies, industry associations, Aboriginal organizations, other levels of government and international jurisdictions. The Unit ensures that Ontario's diamond program is accessible, streamlined and technologically available worldwide.

The Aboriginal Relations Unit Branch

The Aboriginal Relations Unit enables MNDMF to engage Aboriginal communities at the local level and exchange vital information required to help raise community awareness and understanding about the activities associated with mineral and economic development leading to more informed and independent community-level decisions. The unit will coordinate a process of meaningful and focused consultation, help to develop a shared understanding of the process within communities and across government and recommend necessary legislative, regulatory or business processes to reflect the new consultation paradigm.