Financial security for reclamation is required as a condition of a mining lease approval and is based on the engineering costs included in the program for protection, reclamation and rehabilitation of the environment. The financial security shall be in a form and amount acceptable to the Department of Natural Resources and Energy Development as per regulation. The security will be released back to the company once the reclamation has been completed according to the plan and the site is returned to an acceptable state.
Advanced exploration activity may also require submission of a reclamation plan and financial security depending on the scale of the work or site-specific sensitivity. This is determined on a case by case basis by the Recorder through the Form 18 approval and in consultation with the Department of Environment and Local Government.
Financial Security must be in one of the following forms:
- Money
- A negotiable bond signed over to the Province
- An irrevocable letter of credit from a bank or other lending institution acceptable to the Minister and negotiable only by him (applicable for a term not less than one year)
- A bond of an insurance company authorized and licensed to do business in New Brunswick (applicable for a term not less than one year). The bond must be in the form prescribed by regulation.
In general, it is the objective to hold as much financial security as required to conduct outstanding reclamation work required, and assuming use of third- party contractor to do the work. Financial securities would be re-evaluated as a project advances and if condition or technology changes.
The Department of Environment and Local Government may also request financial securities for mining projects for environmental protection, monitoring and water treatment under the mandate of the Clean Environmental Act, EIA and operating approvals for the mine site.