Despite the implementation of British Columbia’s Mineral Claims Consultation Framework (MCCF) in early 2025, Canada's Association for Mineral Exploration (AME) says it is seeing an increase in the number of days explorers have to wait for decisions on mineral claims.

In a statement this week, AME called for immediate action to streamline approvals ahead of the 2026 summer exploration season.

The organisation notes that the median turnaround time for mineral claim decisions has risen to 143 days over the past year, exceeding the provincial government’s service target of 90 to 120 days.

When accounting for applications still pending, only 14.8% of claims were processed within 120 days over the past year.

The median number of days for explorers to receive a decision on minerals claims has risen to 143 in the past year, compared with government’s commitment of between 90 and 120 days.

Accounting for applications that are still pending, only 14.8% of applicants were processed within 120 days in the last year.

Out of the 5 893 applications submitted to the British Columbia authorities, 1 442 have been approved, six have been re-approved, 4 325 remain pending, 1 576 are older than 120 days and 255 are older than 240 days. The balance of applications have either been withdrawn, cancelled or declined for administrative reasons.

In fact, AME points out, many claims from November 2025 to January this year waited as long as three months before being sent to the relevant First Nations for consultation. This exceeds the promise to distribute claims for consultation on a monthly basis.

Tripoint Geological Services president Darcy Vis laments that he has not received approval on any of the 27 mineral applications he submitted since September 2025. He expresses concern about not getting the claims approved before the summer period, which may impact the workstreams of the various projects.

AME’s findings show that a steadily growing backlog in mineral claims is outpacing government’s ability to approve claims, which means it is unlikely that the British Columbia government will meet their service standard commitments unless significant and immediate intervention is taken.

AME president and CEO Todd Stone says there are claims in the system that were staked a full year ago. “British Columbia can only assume its critical minerals leadership role on the world stage if claim staking service standards are met consistently, which provides the necessary project certainty.”

The organisation believes more expeditious consultation with First Nations must be prioritised and that government ensures decisions by these stakeholders are made in a timely manner.

Stone confirms as a result of AME’s advocacy, the British Columbia budget has been widened by C$2-million over the next two years to help staff with implementing the MCCF system. However, more action is needed to truly fix this system, Stone adds.

AME says if companies and governments are going to capitalise on the current commodity cycle and explore for the minerals needed for the future, then government must double down on its efforts to resolve delays and ensure timeous approval processes.

The organisation suggests that to further help the approval process along, government can escalate claim applicants to a more senior level after reaching certain timing gates; allowing work done on claims during the applications to count toward the value of work on that claim; allowing for companies to engage with First Nations themselves; and providing capacity funding for First Nations towards timely processing of claims.