The moratorium on staking mineral claims within the Peel River watershed has been extended by two years to Jan. 1, 2018.

The Yukon government announced the extension Wednesday after the orders-in-council were signed by the office of Commissioner Doug Phillips.

A moratorium on the requirement to pay $100 annually to keep each claim in good standing – or do the equivalent value in work – also remains in place.

The moratoriums were originally implemented back in 2011 as a means of halting any further staking while the land use plan for the Peel was being developed.

There are 8,380 recorded claims in the Peel, most of which were staked after the Peel planning process began in 2004.

The 68,042 square kilometres that make up the Peel region account for approximately 14 per cent of the Yukon’s land mass.

There’s also a staking moratorium in the traditional territory of the Ross River Dena Council while Ross River and the Yukon government try to figure out how the government can fulfill its legal obligation to consult Ross River before allowing any more staking.

The Ross River area is approximately 63,095 square kilometres, and there are 39,144 active claims inside the area.

With both moratoriums, there is currently a freeze on staking mineral claims in approximately 27 per cent of the Yukon.

The dispute over the much-debated land use plan for the Peel is still in full swing. The two First Nations and two environmental organizations involved in a lawsuit against the Yukon government over the land use plan announced Tuesday they will ask the Supreme Court of Canada to hear the matter.