Release of the Rock-Hosted Mineral Resource Development Rules and Directive 091: Rock-Hosted Mineral Resource Development
On December 2, 2021, the Mineral Resources Development Act (MRDA) received royal assent. The MRDA is being implemented in two phases. The Government of Alberta has now proclaimed the parts of the MRDA relating to rock-hosted mineral resources. The MRDA empowers the AER as the life-cycle regulator with the authority to provide for the safe, efficient, orderly, and environmentally responsible development of Alberta’s mineral resources.
Today, we released Directive 091: Rock-Hosted Mineral Resource Development as part of the regulatory framework for rock-hosted mineral resource development. Directive 091 will come into effect once the Rock-Hosted Mineral Resource Development Rules (RMR) are in effect. The RMR will be available at the Alberta King’s Printer. The RMR and Directive 091 set out the requirements that industry must follow for rock-hosted mineral resource development throughout a development’s life cycle.
On October 16, 2023, we released a draft directive for public review and comment until November 30, 2023 (see Bulletin 2023-36). A summary of what we heard and our responses is available on the Directive 091 landing page.
We are currently developing liability management for rock-hosted mineral resource development as part of our regulatory framework and will hold a separate public comment period for feedback.
Throughout the coming year, we will prepare guidance concerning rock-hosted mineral resource development and make consequential amendments to existing directives to incorporate rock-hosted mineral resource development.
Directive 091 is available on our website at aer.ca > Regulating Development > Rules and Directives > Directives. If you have any questions, contact our Customer Contact Centre by phone at 1-855-297-8311 or by email at inquiries@aer.ca.