A Quarry Lease for the removal of a quarriable substance from a Crown quarry site is for commercial use and provides the lessee exclusive rights to operate a pit or a quarry on Crown land. As it is the department's mandate to protect and optimize the use and availability of aggregate resources in the best interest of the people of New Brunswick, in order to secure a quarry lease a company must be able to demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the Minister, the need for exclusive use (i.e. aggregate is required to meet a long term supply for asphalt or concrete construction aggregate usage, applicant has secured a large or long term aggregate supply contract, material meets specific construction specifications which are in limited supply or high demand which the applicant can demonstrate a unique or specific requirement or demand…etc.).
Applications are submitted to the Minerals and Petroleum Development Branch directly. Once all submission requirements have been met, the application will undertake an inter-departmental technical review. Application approval timeframes are variable due to individual project specific or unique factors however, the applicant can expect a review to take weeks or months to finalize. As such, it is in the best interest of the applicant to submit a lease application very early in their planning process to allow sufficient time for review prior to their specific material requirement timeframe.
Information pertaining to a quarry lease:
- applicant shall pay non-refundable application fee ($50.00/application), at the time of application
- prior to approval, the applicant is required to submit a legal survey of the proposed lease site
- on approval, the applicant is required to pay a quarry lease reclamation security ($20/hectare or $5000.00, whichever is greater)
- a lessee is required to pay an annual land rental fee ($50.00/hectare)
- applies to extraction from existing quarry sites or proposed new quarry sites
- there is no maximum extraction volume limit
- the term of a quarry lease can vary up to a maximum term of ten years
- a quarry lease holder shall pay royalty ($0.25/tonne) on the total amount of material requested/approved, at the time of issue (a new permit is required for every year of extraction)
- royalties are due and payable semi-annually on or before the twentieth day of July (on material volume removed between Jan 1st-Jun 30th) and the twentieth day of January (on material volume removed between Jul 1st-Dec 31st) in each year
- a quarry lease provides the lessee with exclusive use to the quarry site
- only the lessee is authorized to remove material from a quarry lease
- all quarry operations are to be conducted in compliance with the Crown Land Quarries Policy
Application Requirements under a Quarry Lease
As part of a comprehensive review process, the applicant is requested to submit additional details pertaining to the development and reclamation of the proposed pit or quarry site. This information generally includes but is not limited to:
Location Plan
- A 1:12,500 scale or greater detail map showing topographic features, natural watercourses, public roads and highways and any surrounding or neighbouring land uses within 1000 metres of the proposed pit or quarry site.
- A map showing the proposed lease boundaries, including the size of the lease area in hectares.
- A site plan showing the following entrances to and exits from the site, location of any fences, gates or barriers, location of all facilities associated with further processing, waste water treatment or control of surface water, location of production stockpiles, waste piles, settling ponds; and location of all permanent or temporary structures on the site.
Development Plan
- Estimated annual production.
- Estimated employment potential.
- Proposed extraction method.
- Provisions for safety.
- Planned sequence and direction of pit development.
- Estimated investment in equipment to be utilized including that associated with drilling, blasting, loading, hauling and sizing.
- A list of commodities to be produced.
Operating Plan
- Annual operating schedule, including daily hours of operation.
- Haulage routes to be used to transport product to customers.
- A description of the source, quantity and use of water in the extraction or beneficiation process.
Environmental Protection Plan
- A description of the method(s) used to collect, store and dispose of lubricants.
- A list of chemicals to be used on site.
- A description of the quantity, quality and mitigative processes proposed to treat any effluent being discharged into the surrounding environment.
Reclamation Plan
- A detailed description and schedule of the planned procedures for the protection, reclamation and rehabilitation of the site, including, where applicable, details pertaining to: backfilling, contouring, benching, sloping, grading, fencing, screening, construction of berms and revegetation.
- A plan for ongoing reclamation.
- An estimated cost of the reclamation program.