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The mining sector
Ontario’s mining sector varies in location, setting and activity. It includes:
- large and small firms
- unionized and non-unionized workplaces
- underground and surface operations
- processing plants, including mills, smelters and refineries
- sand and gravel operations
- mineral exploration sites and
- oil and gas extraction facilities.
The key mining subsectors are listed as follows:
- Underground mines
- Includes ramp or shaft (conveyance) access mines and can involve a variety mining methods such as bulk or narrow-vein mining.
- Open pit mines and quarries
- Surface operations that typically involve large scale drilling, blasting, crushing, sizing and trucking.
- Sand and gravel pit operations
- Range from small open pits to large scale operations with hundreds of pieces of mobile equipment. Typically, these operations do not involve blasting.
- Mineral exploration sites
- Surface operations that typically involve diamond drilling and bulk sampling to determine ore reserve potential.
- Oil and gas extraction sites and facilities
- This sector is tied to both onshore and offshore locations. Offshore locations are governed by Regulation 855 – Oil and Gas, and onshore activities are governed by Regulation 854 – Mines and Mining Plants.
Updated: May 31, 2022
Published: August 02, 2017