Northern Territory Consolidated Acts

MINING ACT - SECT 58

(1) As soon as practicable after the period provided in Part XIII for the answering by an applicant of objections under that Part against his application for the grant to him of a mineral lease, the mining registrar shall fix a date for consideration by a warden of the application and the hearing in open court of objections to the proposed grant.

(2) The hearing referred to in subsection (1) shall be held in the warden's court for the part of the Territory in which the proposed mineral lease is situated, or such other warden's court as the mining registrar, with the consent of the applicant, determines.

(3) At a hearing referred to in subsection (1), the warden shall take such evidence, shall hear such persons and inform himself in such manner, as he considers appropriate in order to determine the relative merits of the application and objections and, subject to this Act, shall determine his own procedures in connection with the hearing.

(4) The applicant and all persons lodging objections in accordance with Part XIII shall be advised of, and may be heard at, a hearing referred to in subsection (1) and may be represented by a legal practitioner.

(5) The warden may, from time to time, adjourn a hearing referred to in subsection (1) and direct an inspection of the land concerned and a report to be made to him, by a person appointed by him.

(6) The warden may, at any time, in connection with a hearing referred to in subsection (1), indicate that in order that he may be in a position to recommend the grant of the mineral lease or the refusal of the grant on the basis of an objection, the applicant or the objector, as the case may be, should arrange for a particular study or a study of a particular kind to be carried out in connection with the likely or possible effects of proposed mining operations on any part of the environment on or in the vicinity of the proposed lease area, and may adjourn the hearing to enable the study to be carried out and a report on the results of the study to be prepared.

(7) In requiring a study to be carried out under subsection (6), the warden may, in respect of all or a specific element of the environment, require that the report contain -

(a) a statement of the objectives of the applicant;

(b) a full description of the mining operations proposed to be carried out on the land and all associated works and other uses proposed;

(c) the details of all feasible alternatives to the preferred mining proposal or other use;

(d) a description of the aspects of the environment likely to be affected by the mining proposal and other feasible alternatives;

(e) an assessment of the potential benefits and detrimental effects on the environment of the proposed mining or other use and other feasible alternatives;

(f) a description of specific safeguards and environmental management proposals which could be incorporated as conditions of the lease to avoid, minimise or ameliorate adverse environmental effects; and

(g) estimates of the cost of carrying out the proposals or specific actions for the amelioration of the effect of the proposed mining or other use.

(8) Where there are no objections lodged under Part XIII to an application for the grant of a mineral lease, the warden may dispense with the hearing referred to in subsection (1).