English Property Law stated that “the owner of a parcel of land owns everything up to the sky and down to the centre of the earth”.

Because of this old law, you might think that, in British Columbia, land owners own whatever lies beneath their lands.

Well, you would be wrong.

Most land owners in British Columbia will not own any gold and silver lying beneath their lands and the majority do not own any of the minerals either.

When you become a land owner, you get the “title” to a piece of land and getting the title to a piece of land in British Columbia starts with the Crown. The Crown is the government and this is the original owner of all the land in British Columbia.

The transfer of land from the Crown to individuals, groups or a company does not usually include gold and silver. Common law (this is a type of Law which “exists and applies to a group on the basis of customs and legal precedents developed over hundreds of years in Britain”) that gold and silver are owned by the Crown as part of its “Royal prerogative”.

Prior to 1891
All gold and silver found under ground in BC was owned by the crown.

1891 Amending Act
The Act deleted the words “gold and silver ore” and replaced them with the words “minerals precious and base, other than coal”. However, the 1891 Amending Act did not include a definition of “minerals”.

1899 Lands Act
This Act was amended and stated that no land owner had the right to coal or petroleum.
1913 – they expanded the Act to include gas and gases,
1951 – the Act substituted natural gas for gas/gasses.

1970 Land Act
States that land owners are not entitled to “any minerals precious or base, including coal, petroleum and any gas or gases”.

This Act was last amended in 1995. The Mineral Act was changed to the Mineral Tenure Act and specifically listed /included coal, petroleum and any gas or gases.