Re: No proof of ownership letter to the editor from Frank Schlichting, March 30, 2016 Gazette.
Attached is a current map showing the Kettle River Resources Ltd. outline of surface titled Crown granted mineral claims. This property is totally private—the surface and undersurface with registered title at Land Titles office in Kamloops. Any entry into or onto this property is trespassing.
The online mapsite, where you can determine private property, is available at Mineral Titles Online (MTO). This is accessible to the public and has an easy to follow online tutorial. At Phoenix, many of the townsite lots are within the pit area and now essentially non-existent due to mining activities. These lots are encompassed within the district lots (DL) and any former railways and right of ways when cancelled reverted to the district lots.
The Google Earth map Mr. Schlichting posted on social media providing details of his entry is clearly within the private property boundary. Ditches and or areas blocked off are on private property.
He also posted a “selfie” taken adjacent to a posted “danger and no trespassing” sign. That sign is located within the private property boundary and in an area of old mine workings—not where public should enter let alone remove property.
Should anyone so wish, surface ownership can be verified by the Property Identification Description (PID) provided below. We have limited these to the easterly area where the above mentioned has admittedly entered, a copy of which will be mailed to him.
List: DL 891 (Snowshoe) PID 014-894-271, DL 893 (Curlew) PID 014-895-994,DL 899 (Gold Drop) PID 014-884-925, DL1252 (Gold Drop Fraction) PID 014-988-569, DL 933 (Victoria) PID 014-915-502, DL 979 (Missing Link) PID 014-909-740, DL 978 (Aetna) PID 014-909-715, DL 793 (Grey Eagle) 014-865-645.
For further information, the Tremblay Tailings site is also private property. It is also regulated under the mine ministry and it is private property.
Where the Crown owns the surface, a mineral tenure holder does not have exclusive rights. All and any minerals belong to the mineral tenure holder. There are several areas where this is the case, but not at the Phoenix Mine Site.
This site is Boundary heritage and hopefully one day it will be developed as an interpretive site—safe and informative with good memories. We ask everyone to respect private property rights and when exploring on Crown land to know the safety rules and use common sense.
– Ellen Clements, Kettle River/New Nadina Explorations Limited