I will be returning to my mining claims in the Klondike in about one month. I have been getting calls from my friends in Dawson City and Whitehorse. A word of caution! I saw a lot of nervousness on the creeks before I left last year, and it appears there will be some coming into the Klondike looking for claims.
The technicalities for foreigners (Americans) mining there are very strict. There are many who do not know that the program on tv for this last season was in Canada-not Alaska. Americans (foreigners) will need a restricted visa or work permit, depending on their claim ownership percentage. You can have no Americans working for you. You can only hire Canadians. The show actually had the fellow from Haines, Alaska, visiting Klondike miner Tony Betts. He mentioned coming up to work for him. This is illegal.
In my thirty-four years there, I have seen many foreigners get in trouble. The usual situation is that when they get caught, everything they have with them (equipment, vehicle, etc.) sits there and rots while they are deported back to their country of origin.
I am an an American mining in the Canadian Klondike and the Canadian authorities have treated me very well because I have always had my papers in order and have followed all the rules.
Getting a license to mine there is a nightmare. It will take a minimum of a year. It is a land use and water permit. It is about eighty pages and highly technical. I have helped two friends make out theirs. One, in Whitehorse, is going through many government meetings now to get his license. He called me yesterday and told me he just had a meeting with the Safety Board. They told him he would have to take a medical safety course, get certain medical equipment on site (such as a prescribed medical kit, stretcher, etc.) wear approved safety equipment and much more. All heavy equipment must have safety features approved by a civil engineer. The list goes on and on.
Your license locks you into giving a description of the ground before you mine, a complete mining plan based on their strict regulations, and a plan for reclamation. Everything on the claim must be temporary, such as living facilities. All must be accomplished and moved off the mining claim within the time limit agreed to. Roads must be reclaimed also. All of this has to be agreed to by many government agencies, environmental agencies, and local Indian tribes.
Attached is the regulations for foreign miners. Note that it is dated 2002, so it would be advisable to check to see if it is the latest.
Do not come unprepared, you will be disappointed.
The technicalities for foreigners (Americans) mining there are very strict. There are many who do not know that the program on tv for this last season was in Canada-not Alaska. Americans (foreigners) will need a restricted visa or work permit, depending on their claim ownership percentage. You can have no Americans working for you. You can only hire Canadians. The show actually had the fellow from Haines, Alaska, visiting Klondike miner Tony Betts. He mentioned coming up to work for him. This is illegal.
In my thirty-four years there, I have seen many foreigners get in trouble. The usual situation is that when they get caught, everything they have with them (equipment, vehicle, etc.) sits there and rots while they are deported back to their country of origin.
I am an an American mining in the Canadian Klondike and the Canadian authorities have treated me very well because I have always had my papers in order and have followed all the rules.
Getting a license to mine there is a nightmare. It will take a minimum of a year. It is a land use and water permit. It is about eighty pages and highly technical. I have helped two friends make out theirs. One, in Whitehorse, is going through many government meetings now to get his license. He called me yesterday and told me he just had a meeting with the Safety Board. They told him he would have to take a medical safety course, get certain medical equipment on site (such as a prescribed medical kit, stretcher, etc.) wear approved safety equipment and much more. All heavy equipment must have safety features approved by a civil engineer. The list goes on and on.
Your license locks you into giving a description of the ground before you mine, a complete mining plan based on their strict regulations, and a plan for reclamation. Everything on the claim must be temporary, such as living facilities. All must be accomplished and moved off the mining claim within the time limit agreed to. Roads must be reclaimed also. All of this has to be agreed to by many government agencies, environmental agencies, and local Indian tribes.
Attached is the regulations for foreign miners. Note that it is dated 2002, so it would be advisable to check to see if it is the latest.
Do not come unprepared, you will be disappointed.
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