28. (1) The recording of a claim may be protested by

• (a) any person claiming priority in locating the claim or any part thereof at any time within

  • (i) the period referred to in subsection 24(1), or

  • (ii) such additional period as may be fixed by the Mining Recorder not exceeding one year from the expiration of the period referred to in subparagraph (i), or

• (b) an engineer of mines, at any time prior to the recording of a survey of the claim,

by filing with the Mining Recorder a notice of protest in Form 4 of Schedule III.

(2) Where the Supervising Mining Recorder is satisfied that the recording of a claim for which a lease has not been granted was obtained by a false or misleading statement knowingly made by the holder of the recorded claim, the Supervising Mining Recorder may, after hearing the holder of the claim or any person appearing on his behalf, cancel the claim.

(3) Where a recorded claim is cancelled by the Supervising Mining Recorder under subsection (2), he shall forthwith serve, by registered mail, a notice of cancellation on any person affected thereby.

(4) Where a recorded claim is cancelled under subsection (2), the claim or any part thereof shall be open for relocation under these Regulations

• (a) after 12 o’clock noon on the day following the 30th day after the day of cancellation; or

• (b) where a review is made by the Minister and the Minister confirms the cancellation of the claim, after 12 o’clock noon on the day following the 30th day after the day the Minister confirms the cancellation of the claim.

29. (1) The Territories shall be divided into prospecting permit areas, in accordance with Schedule V except for the area in the vicinity of the city of Yellowknife described as follows:

COMMENCING at a point of intersection of Latitude 60°00′ and Longitude 107°00′, THENCE, northerly to Latitude 65°00′ and Longitude 107°00′, THENCE, westerly to Latitude 65°00′ and Longitude 120°00′, THENCE, southerly to Latitude 60°00′ and Longitude 120°00′, THENCE, easterly to the point of commencement.

(2) A prospecting permit area shall be based on the National Topographic System as used by the Surveys and Mapping Branch, Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, and shall contain one-quarter the area of a mineral claim staking sheet and shall be designated as the N.E., S.E., N.W. or S.W. quarter.

(3) Every application for a permit shall be in Form 5 of Schedule III and shall be accompanied by

• (a) the applicable fee set out in Schedule I;

• (b) full particulars of the exploratory work proposed to be carried out; and

• (c) a deposit for an amount equal to the amount the applicant is required to undertake to spend on work in the area during the first period as specified in section 31.

(4) An application for a permit shall be made between December 1st and December 31st in any year.

(5) An application for a permit may be sent by mail or delivered by hand to the Chief.

(5.1) On receipt of applications for permits, the Chief shall assign numbers to the applications according to their order of receipt and, where he receives two or more applications at the same time, he shall assign numbers to the applications according to the order in which he opens them.

(5.2) For the purposes of subsection (5.1),

• (a) an application that is received at the Chief’s office

  • (i) after 4 o’clock p.m. on a working day, or

  • (ii) on a holiday

  shall be deemed to have been received by the Chief at 9 o’clock a.m. on the next working day; and

• (b) an application that is received at the Chief’s office before 9 o’clock a.m. on a working day shall be deemed to have been received by the Chief at 9 o’clock a.m. on that working day.

(6) A deposit required under paragraph (3)(c) or subsection 30(1) shall be in the form of

• (a) cash;

• (b) negotiable bonds of equal value at the date of submission guaranteed by the Government of Canada or a province; or

• (c) a guaranteed promissory note of equal value that is payable on demand and that a chartered bank has agreed, in terms acceptable to the Chief, to honour on presentation for payment.

(7) Where a deposit required under paragraph (3)(c) or subsection 30(1) is in the form of a promissory note, it shall be guaranteed for a term of not less than four months after the expiry of the period for which it is deposited.

(8) Where an application for a permit is not accepted, the fee and deposit shall be refunded to the applicant.

(9) Where an application for a permit is withdrawn by the applicant before the permit is issued, the deposit but not the fee shall be refunded to the applicant.

(10) Subject to subsection (11), where exploratory work of value will be undertaken in a prospecting permit area and the granting of a permit will not hinder other mining interests, the Chief may issue a permit, in Form 6 of Schedule III, to an applicant for the exclusive right to prospect for minerals within that area.

(11) The granting of a permit in respect of any prospecting permit area is subject to any rights previously acquired or applied for by any person in the area to which the permit applies.

(12) Permits shall be issued between January 1st and January 31st in each year in order of the numbers assigned by the Chief under subsection (5.1) in respect of applications received during the month of December immediately preceding.

(13) Following the termination of the period during which permits are issued, the Chief shall cause a notice to be

• (a) published in a newspaper circulating in the Territories,

• (b) published in the Canada Gazette, and

• (c) posted in the office of every Mining Recorder in and for the Territories,

and such notice shall contain a description of all the areas in respect of which permits have been issued during that year.

(14) Subject to sections 30 to 36, a permit becomes effective on February 1st following the date of issue and remains in effect for a period of

• (a) in the case of a permit in respect of an area located south of the 68th parallel of north latitude, three years; and

• (b) in the case of a permit in respect of an area located north of the 68th parallel of north latitude, five years.