MINING ACT 1992 - SECT 378ZFA
Order for recovery of costs related to prospecting or mining without authorisation
MINING ACT 1992 - SECT 378ZFA
Order for recovery of costs related to prospecting or mining without authorisation
378ZFA Order for recovery of costs related to prospecting or mining without
authorisation
(1) The Land and Environment Court or the Local Court may make
an order under this section if the court is satisfied, on the balance of
probabilities, that a person has prospected for or mined for a mineral
otherwise than in accordance with an authorisation.
(2) The Land and
Environment Court or the Local Court may order a person to pay to a government
agency or person costs and expenses incurred, or compensation for loss or
damage suffered, as the case may be, in such amount as is fixed by the order,
if it appears to the court that--
(a) a government agency has incurred costs
and expenses in connection with--
(i) the prevention, control, mitigation or
management of any environmental impact caused by the prospecting or mining, or
(ii) rehabilitating land or water damaged or affected by the prospecting or
mining, or
(b) a person (including a government agency) has, by reason of the
prospecting or mining, suffered loss of or damage to property or has incurred
costs and expenses in preventing, controlling, mitigating or managing any such
loss or damage, or attempting to do so.
(3) However, the court is not to make
an order for payment to a person under the section to the extent that the
payment would represent the value of minerals extracted by that person without
title that the person who carried out the suspected unlawful prospecting or
mining had obtained by fossicking, prospecting operations or mining operations
carried out with the consent of that person and in connection with the
suspected contravention.
(4) An order made by the Local Court under this
section is enforceable as if it were an order made by the court when
exercising jurisdiction under the Civil Procedure Act 2005 .
(5) An order
made by the Land and Environment Court under this section is enforceable as if
it were an order made by the Court in Class 4 proceedings under the
Land and Environment Court Act 1979 .
(6) The Local Court may not make an
order under this section for the payment of an amount that exceeds the
jurisdictional limit of the Local Court under the Civil Procedure Act 2005 .
(7) The court may make an order under this section whether or not the person
against whom the order is made--
(a) has been convicted of an offence under
this Act in relation to the prospecting or mining, or
(b) has been issued
with a penalty notice under this Act in relation to the prospecting or mining,
and whether or not the amount of penalty prescribed for the offence has been
paid under any such penalty notice, or
(c) has had any other action taken
against the person in respect of an offence under this Act in relation to the
prospecting or mining.
(8) This section does not prevent the taking of
proceedings for an offence of prospecting or mining for a mineral except in
accordance with an authorisation.
