A Yukon mining company has received clarity about its mineral rights on land that intersects a residential development in Whitehorse.

Yukon Supreme Court Justice Ron Veale released his decision last week in the dispute involving surface and sub-surface interests between H. Coyne and Sons Ltd., the City of Whitehorse and Raven’s Ridge Development Ltd.

Veale found that Coyne has the right to copper plus, which is copper or other minerals mixed with copper or copper ore, on two lots which intersect the Raven’s Ridge residential subdivision near Mount McIntyre.

Veale also ruled that Coyne has an implicit right of access to those minerals.

Raven’s Ridge owns surface rights to the portion of land where the mining claims and subdivision overlap.

But Veale noted Coyne’s right of entry is not absolute, meaning they will have to go through obligations under various legislation and provide security and compensation for damage.

As well, the work to extract the copper plus must “not cause a permanent loss of surface support, destruction to the surface, or destroy the road constructed.”

For Class 1 mining, which is the only exploration work Coyne has undertaken so far, Raven’s Ridge can require Coyne to post security.

And for further mining activities, Coyne will have to apply to amend the Official Community Plan (OCP) and zoning bylaws.

Since 1971, there have been four OCPs, none of which have contemplated mining in the area but have always provided for a designation.

Coyne will also have to abide by applicable territorial regulations including those under the Quartz Mining Act and the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Act.

Coyne’s lawyer, Blair Shaw, had argued the city’s 2010 OCP, zoning bylaws and approval of Raven’s Ridge subdivision should be found invalid as they impair his clients rights.

But Veale disagreed, finding they do not interfere with Coyne’s right to explore, mine and extract copper plus from their claims.

“There is no doubt that the zoning bylaw significantly restricts Coyne’s right to mine in the sense that these are regulatory procedures to be followed before mining,” he noted.

The city, meanwhile, is happy with the conclusion.

“We are pleased with the decision and the recognition that the city is empowered to regulate and decide proper land uses in the public interest, including mining within the city,” Mike Gau, the city’s director of development services, told the Star.

He said the court decision confirms that all levels of jurisdictions apply and that Crown grants don’t take precedence.

As the city has grown, Gau noted, so have land use conflicts due to competing interests. Whether resource extraction projects are able to go ahead depends on the proposal and the location, he added.

“We do see the benefits of industrial development in our city; it’s one of the reasons why the municipal boundaries were expanded many years ago,” Gau said.

The history behind the conflict involving Coyne’s mineral rights debates back to 1905 and 1906, when the Federal Crown Grants for copper plus were issued for two lots.

Hudson’s Bay and Smelting Co. Ltd. acquired the title to both of these lots in 1979.

It then severed the surface and sub-surface rights in 1992, transferring the surface rights to the Yukon Electrical Co. Ltd. (now ATCO Electric Yukon) while retaining the mineral rights.

These mineral rights were transferred to Coyne in 1998.

According to an affidavit by James Coyne, at the time he was assured that the electrical company intended to use the land for electrical transmission towers, which would still allow him to drill for minerals.

But Raven’s Ridge purchased an option for the surface rights in 2004 with the intention of building a residential subdivision. The title for the land transferred to them in 2013.

The subdivision only overlaps part of the two lots where Coyne has copper plus rights.

Coyne also owns other Crown granted mineral claims in the copper belt.

James Coyne said he has conducted more than $2 million worth of exploration work on a number of claims in this area including $360,000 on the two specific lots.

During trial, Shaw referred to them as “having some of the highest mineral potential of all of Coyne’s holdings in the copper belt.”