The New Brunswick government has established new guidelines for companies exploring for uranium in the province.

Until this week, the government had been asking mineral companies to abide by guidelines that are followed in Saskatchewan while conducting exploration in New Brunswick.

The delay in drafting the guidelines is understandable because the exploration for uranium in New Brunswick is relatively new, said Natural Resources Minister Donald Arseneault.

"We have to realize that there was no uranium exploration for a number of decades — therefore the province of New Brunswick did not have standards," Arseneault said.

The announcement of the guidelines came on Wednesday after the Conservative Opposition criticized the government for not having any standards for uranium exploration with the growing interest among mining companies.

The Opposition has also called for a referendum to see if the public is opposed to uranium exploration and mining in the province after the government rejected a motion calling for a moratorium.

The new standards have been sent to the mineral companies, Arseneault said.

Exploration for uranium is occurring south and west of Moncton and smaller companies are also looking for other deposits in the province.

"We were working to develop our own standard here in New Brunswick as we've seen an increase in uranium exploration here. So those standards have been finalized and has been provided to the industry to follow," Arseneault said.

The guidelines include testing wells within 500 metres of drill sites and sealing radioactive material back into the ground.

There won't be any inspectors at drilling sites to ensure that companies are following the guidelines. But Arseneault said that if companies are found to be violating the guidelines, they could lose their right to explore in the province.