On February 28, 2024, the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) became the life-cycle regulator for rock-hosted mineral development in Alberta, including responsibility for liability management and security collection under the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act and the Conservation and Reclamation Regulation.
Today, we released the following:
- Specified Enactment Direction 005: Rock-Hosted Mine Liability Process
- Manual 033: Rock-Hosted Mine Liability Process – Mine Liability Estimation Tool User Guide
- mine liability estimation (MLE) tool
These documents and tools outline the rock-hosted mine liability process (RMLP), which is designed to protect Albertans from rock-hosted mineral development closure costs while supporting responsible and sustainable resource development. The specified enactment direction (SED) sets out the requirements for liability estimation, liability assessment, mine operational net assessment, security collection, and return. The MLE tool, along with its supporting manual, will determine the amount of security required in accordance with the SED.
Overall, the RMLP supports the responsible development of Alberta’s mineral resources and ensures land returns to an equivalent land use capability once rock-hosted mineral operations have ceased.
A draft version of the SED was released on February 25, 2025, on which public feedback was accepted until April 25, 2025 (see Bulletin 2025-07). A summary of the feedback we received, and our responses, is available with the SED.
SED 005 and Manual 033 are available on their respective webpages. The MLE tool is available on the Systems and Tools webpage. If you have any questions, contact our Customer Contact Centre by phone at 1-855-297-8311 or by email at inquiries@aer.ca.
