1.1(1)Notwithstanding the definition “mineral” contained in the previous Act, any predecessor of that Act or any other Act, in all grants within the Province in which mines and minerals have been or may be excepted and reserved to the Crown, all sand, gravel, clay and soil used or to be used for their chemical or special physical properties, or both, or taken for contained minerals, are minerals and are property separate from the soil and constitute a property that is independent from that of the soil, and ownership of such minerals is vested in the Crown.

1.1(2)Notwithstanding the definition “mineral” contained in the previous Act, any predecessor of that Act or any other Act, all sand, gravel, clay and soil taken from Crown Lands and used or to be used for their chemical or special physical properties, or both, or taken for contained minerals, are minerals.

1.1(3)Subsections (1) and (2) shall not be deemed to be or to involve a declaration that the law under this Act is different from the law as it was under the previous Act, any predecessor of that Act or any other Act.

1.1(4)Subsection (1) shall not be deemed to be nor to involve an expropriation within the meaning of the Expropriation Act.

1.1(5)This Act supersedes the Expropriation Act.

1.1(6)Notwithstanding any other provision in this Act, a person who, before May 18, 1986, worked any deposit of sand, gravel, clay or soil for the purpose of using it for its chemical or special physical properties, or both, or for its contained minerals, shall not hereafter be required to pay any royalty or rent with respect to the sand, gravel, clay or soil taken from the deposit for those purposes.