Northern Mineral Exploration Assistance Regulations (C.R.C., c. 332)

• 10 (1) No amount is payable to a recipient as or on account of a grant after the recipient has discontinued the program of exploratory work in respect of which the grant was authorized or a stage of that program, unless the consent of the Minister to the discontinuance of such program or stage is given in accordance with subsection (2).

• (2) The Minister may consent in writing to the discontinuance of a program of exploratory work or of a stage of that program if he is satisfied that further exploratory work in respect of the program or that stage, as the case may be, is not warranted.

Undertakings

11 No amount is payable to a recipient as or on account of a grant unless the recipient has

• (a) undertaken to make payment in accordance with these Regulations to Her Majesty in right of Canada of any amounts that become owing by the recipient by reason of any provision of these Regulations;

• (b) authorized the Minister to make public, at any time after two years from the day fixed by him for completion of the program of exploratory work, any information disclosed to the Director pursuant to section 7;

• (c) undertaken not to assign, transfer, give away, abandon, mortgage, pledge or otherwise charge or grant any interest in or in any way disentitle or disable himself from acquiring holdings described in his application

  • (i) except with the prior written consent of the Minister and subject to any conditions that the Minister may in giving his consent impose, or

  • (ii) except after the written notice contemplated by section 15 has been given to the recipient by the Minister;

• (d) undertaken, on behalf of the recipient and the recipient’s agents, officers, employees and servants, not to represent or imply by any means that the approval of the recipient’s application by the Minister or the payment to the recipient of any amount as or on account of a grant connotes a favourable opinion of Her Majesty or of any officer or employee of Her Majesty as to the presence of oil, gas or minerals in any of the areas to which the holdings described in the recipient’s application relate;

• (e) undertaken to repay to Her Majesty in right of Canada any amount paid to the recipient as or on account of a grant together with simple interest thereon at the rate of 10 per cent per annum from the day on which such amount was paid to the recipient, if

  • (i) the recipient or any agent, officer, employee or servant of the recipient commits a breach of any undertaking given by the recipient pursuant to these Regulations, or

  • (ii) the recipient or any agent, officer, employee or servant of the recipient either before or after this undertaking is given, knowingly makes a false or misleading statement or fails to disclose a material particular in an application or other document or wilfully furnishes any false or misleading information; and

• (f) given to the Minister an undertaking satisfactory to him that the recipient will employ in connection with his exploratory work persons residing in the area in which the work is to be carried out to the fullest extent possible having regard to the availability and qualifications of those persons.

Repayment of Grant

• 12 (1) Subject to section 15, an amount equal to the total amount paid to a recipient as or on account of a grant becomes owing by the recipient to Her Majesty in right of Canada on the day on which production for gain is commenced on any of the holdings described in the recipient’s application.

• (2) The Director shall, on the basis of such information as he may require from the recipient or as the recipient may provide and any other information that he may obtain, determine whether production for gain has commenced on any of the holdings described in the recipient’s application and the day on which it commenced.

• (3) Subject to these Regulations, any amount that becomes owing by virtue of subsection (1) shall bear simple interest from the day it becomes owing at a percentage rate equal to the sum of two plus the average of the interest rates stated on the face of long term Government of Canada bonds outstanding during the calendar year next preceding the calendar year in which the amount becomes owing.

• 13 (1) Subject to this section, any amount that becomes owing by a recipient by virtue of section 12 shall be paid by the recipient by paying to Her Majesty in right of Canada not less than 10 per cent of that amount or the balance of that amount remaining unpaid, whichever is the lesser, together with all accrued interest, on each anniversary of the day on which that amount became owing by the recipient.

• (2) Subject to subsection (3), where a recipient is a public corporation whose shares are listed on a Canadian stock exchange or whose shares are offered for sale in Canada to the public through a Canadian securities dealer, the recipient may at any time, if the Minister agrees, pay the whole or any part of any amount that becomes owing by virtue of section 12 or of the balance of any such amount from time to time remaining unpaid by issuing to Her Majesty in right of Canada fully paid common shares of the recipient.

• (3) Where the Minister agrees to the payment by a recipient of any amount in the manner provided by subsection (2), the value of the common shares of the recipient for the purpose of determining the number of such shares that shall be issued by the recipient to Her Majesty in right of Canada in payment of such amount is,

  • (a) in the case of shares listed on a Canadian stock exchange, the closing market quotation of those shares, on the day the Minister agrees to that manner of payment, on the Canadian stock exchange where the principal trading in those shares ordinarily takes place; and

  • (b) in the case of shares not listed on a Canadian stock exchange but offered for sale in Canada to the public through a Canadian securities dealer, the closing market quotation, on the day the Minister agrees to that manner of payment, in a daily newspaper in the city where the principal trading in those shares ordinarily takes place.

• (4) Where only part of an amount that becomes owing by virtue of section 12 or of the balance of such amount from time to time remaining unpaid is paid by a recipient in the manner provided by subsection (2), the amount thereafter remaining unpaid shall be paid by the recipient to Her Majesty in right of Canada by paying not less than 10 per cent of such amount or the balance thereof remaining unpaid, whichever is the lesser, together with all accrued interest, on each anniversary of the day on which a payment was made in the manner provided by subsection (2).

• (5) A recipient may pay the whole of any amount that becomes owing by virtue of section 12 or of the balance of such amount from time to time remaining unpaid, together with all accrued interest, at any time without notice or bonus.

• (6) The Minister may forgive the whole or any part of the unpaid balance of any amount that becomes owing by a recipient by virtue of section 12 and of any accrued interest thereon if

  • (a) payment of that amount has been commenced by the recipient in accordance with this section; and

  • (b) it appears to the Minister that production for gain is no longer feasible in the areas to which the holdings described in the recipient’s application relate.

14 Where the Minister is of the opinion that circumstances affecting the carrying on of production for gain justify, he may by notice in writing to a recipient

• (a) increase the minimum amount payable yearly by the recipient pursuant to subsection 13(1) or (4); or

• (b) in respect of the recipient, decrease the minimum amount payable yearly pursuant to subsection 13(1) or (4) or reduce the rate of interest specified in subsection 12(3) or both decrease the minimum amount payable and reduce the rate of interest.

15 No amount shall become owing by virtue of section 12 where the recipient is notified in writing by the Minister that it appears to the Minister that the exploratory work done by the recipient in the areas to which the holdings relate has disclosed no indication of oil, gas or minerals in quantities likely to make production for gain feasible in the future.

General

16 A recipient who becomes liable to make a repayment to Her Majesty in accordance with an undertaking given by the recipient pursuant to paragraph 11(e)

• (a) shall not thereafter be paid any amount as or on account of a grant; and

• (b) shall be deemed thereafter not to be a person described in subsection 3(2).

17 Where copies of any reports, photographs, maps or other factual material required to be submitted by an applicant or a recipient pursuant to paragraph 4(d) or paragraph 7(1)(d) have previously been submitted to the Director pursuant to any of the Acts or Regulations referred to in section 2, the applicant or recipient, as the case may be, shall, upon so notifying the Director be deemed for the purposes of these Regulations to have submitted them pursuant to paragraph 4(d) or 7(1)(d) as the case may be.