Land Tenure / Dispositions

Who We Are

The Mining Land Dispositions is a unit within the Mining Lands Section that administers patented, leased and licensed mining lands across the province. These lands can be briefly described as follows:

• Freehold patented mining lands are lands originally granted for mining purposes, or mining rights that were severed from the surface rights after their original grant. Patented mining lands are liable to mining land tax. Also lands are taxable, if they are being used for mining purposes, no matter what legislation they were granted under.
• Mining Leases are now the primary form of Crown grant for mining purposes. Leases are issued for either 10-year or 21-year terms.  Rent is applied to mining leases.
• Mining Licenses of Occupation were historically issued for lands primarily under water. Licenses do not expire. Rent also applies to Mining Licenses of Occupation.

The Dispositions Office is the provincial registry for licences of occupation and legal instruments affecting the licences of occupation, such as transfers, liens, option agreements.

Who We Serve

• Prospectors and mine developers
• Land owners and their representatives
• Municipalities

What We Do

We offer expert guidance in several aspects of land administration:  

• providing history and insight into Ontario Land practices from a Crown perspective, such as information on lands granted under the Canada Company Lands Act
• assisting with and providing Minister’s consent required in the transfer and mortgaging of mining leases and licenses of occupation.
• processing the renewal of expiring mining leases 
• invoicing  and collecting mining land taxes and rents and providing the status of accounts
• return land to the Crown primarily through forfeiture for non-payment of rent or mining land tax and through voluntary surrenders.  Lists of these lands re-opened to mining claim staking are published in the Ontario Gazette (refer to may 17, 2008 issue)
• collecting annual royalties from Ontario’s hard rock salt mines
• executing documents for the registration of Municipal Tax Sales
• Lands and/or Mining Rights to be Forfeited for Mining Land Tax (2006). Official list can be obtained from the Ontario Gazette (refer to July 12, 2008 issue).