New South Wales Consolidated Acts

MINING ACT 1992 - SECT 8

8 Mining etc for privately owned minerals without due notice to Director-General

(1) A person must not, on any land, prospect for or mine any privately owned mineral unless:

(a) the person has caused notice of intention to do so to be given to the Director-General, and

(b) the person has caused security, in a form and an amount determined in accordance with the regulations, to be lodged with the Director-General, and

(c) the person prospects for or mines the mineral in accordance with the conditions (if any) prescribed by the regulations.

Maximum penalty for prospecting in contravention of this subsection: 200 penalty units.

Maximum penalty for mining in contravention of this subsection:

(a) 1,000 penalty units or imprisonment for 5 years, or both, in the case of an offence dealt with on indictment, or

(b) 200 penalty units or imprisonment for 2 years, or both, in the case of an offence dealt with summarily.

(2) The notice referred to in subsection (1) (a) must contain the following particulars:

(b) the mineral in relation to which prospecting or mining operations are to be carried on,

(c) a description, prepared in the manner prescribed by the regulations, of the land on which the prospecting or mining operations are to be carried on,

(d) if the person is not the owner of the mineral-the name and address of the owner of the mineral and the date on which the person obtained the consent of the owner of the mineral to the person’s carrying on prospecting or mining operations.

(3) The regulations referred to in subsection (1) (c) may prescribe requirements relating to:

(a) the rehabilitation, levelling, regrassing, reforesting or contouring of any parts of the land on which prospecting or mining operations are carried on that are damaged or otherwise adversely affected by those operations, and

(b) the filling in, sealing or fencing off of excavations, shafts and tunnels,

and other requirements directed at the restoration of the land or the protection of the environment.

(4) This section does not apply to a person to the extent to which the person is prospecting or mining in accordance with an authority, mineral claim or opal prospecting licence that is in force in respect of the land and mineral concerned.