MINING ACT 1978 - SECT 20
MINING ACT 1978 - SECT 20
20 . Protection of certain Crown land
[(1)-(4) deleted]
(5) Notwithstanding
that any Crown land to which this subsection refers may be marked out as or be
included in a mining tenement, a mining tenement or Miner’s Right does
not entitle the holder thereof to prospect or fossick on, explore, or mine on
or under, or otherwise interfere with, any Crown land that is —
(a) for
the time being under crop, or which is situated within 100 m thereof; or
(b) used
as or situated within 100 m of a yard, stockyard, garden, cultivated field,
orchard, vineyard, plantation, airstrip or airfield; or
(c)
situated within 100 m of any land that is in actual occupation and on which a
house or other substantial building is erected; or
(d) the
site of or situated within 100 m of any cemetery or burial ground; or
(da) the
site of or situated within 100 m of a permanent electrical or fibre optic
cable; or
(db)
land under a diversification lease that is the site of, or situated within 100
m of, a substantial structure that —
(i)
is being erected or commissioned; or
(ii)
has been erected and is used, not being a structure
previously erected and used for mining purposes by a person other than a
lessee of that diversification lease;
or
(e) land
under a pastoral lease or a diversification lease that is the site of, or is
situated within 400 m of the outer edge of, any water works, race, dam, well
or bore, not being an excavation previously made and used for mining purposes
by a person other than a lessee of that pastoral lease or diversification
lease,
without the written
consent of the occupier, unless —
(ea) the
warden in relation to any land other than land referred to in paragraph (c) or
(db) otherwise directs; or
(eb) in
the case of mining, it is carried out not less than 30 m below the lowest part
of the natural surface of the land,
but nothing in this
subsection prevents such a holder from passing and repassing over any Crown
land that is situated within —
(f) 100
m of any Crown land that is —
(i)
for the time being under crop; or
(ii)
used as a yard, stockyard, garden, cultivated field,
orchard, vineyard, plantation, airstrip or airfield; or
(iii)
in actual occupation and on which a house or other
substantial building is erected; or
(iv)
the site of any cemetery or burial ground; or
(v)
the site of a permanent electrical or fibre optic cable;
or
(vi)
the site of a substantial structure that is being erected
or commissioned or that has been erected and is used;
or
(g) 400
m of any Crown land that is the site of any water works, race, dam, well or
bore,
in order to gain
access to other land (not being Crown land referred to in paragraph (f) or
(g)), for the purpose of prospecting or fossicking on, exploring, mining on or
under, or marking out that other land but a warden shall not give a direction
under paragraph (ea) unless he is satisfied that the land is bona fide
required for mining purposes and he is satisfied that compensation in
accordance with section 123 for all loss or damage suffered or likely to be
suffered by an owner or occupier of the land has been agreed upon or otherwise
determined, or is assessed and settled in accordance with this Act.
(5AA) Subsection (5) does not apply to land under
a diversification lease described in subsection (5)(db) unless the land is
identified in the diversification lease under the Land Administration Act 1997
section 92C(4) for the purposes of this subsection.
(5a) The holder of a
mining tenement or Miner’s Right who passes or repasses over any Crown
land that is situated within —
(a) 100
m of any Crown land referred to in subsection (5)(f); or
(b) 400
m of any Crown land referred to in subsection (5)(g),
in order to gain
access to the other land referred to in subsection (5) for the purpose
referred to therein shall —
(c)
before so passing or repassing, take all reasonable and practicable steps to
notify the occupier of the Crown land so situated of his intention to do so;
and
(d) when
so passing or repassing —
(i)
take all necessary steps to prevent fire, damage to trees
or other property and to prevent damage to any property or damage to livestock
by the presence of dogs, the discharge of firearms, the use of vehicles or
otherwise; and
(ii)
cause as little inconvenience as possible to the occupier
of the Crown land so situated; and
(iii)
comply with any reasonable request made by the occupier
of the Crown land so situated in relation to the manner in which that holder
so passes or repasses;
and
(e)
restrict the number of occasions on which he so passes or repasses to the
minimum necessary for the purpose of prospecting or fossicking on, exploring,
mining operations on or under, or marking out that other land; and
(f) make
good any damage caused by that passing or repassing to any improvements or
livestock on the Crown land so situated,
and the occupier of
the Crown land so situated is entitled to be compensated by that holder for
any damage referred to in paragraph (f) that is not made good by that holder,
and, in respect of land under cultivation, for any other loss or damage for
which that holder is liable in accordance with section 123.
(5b) The amount of any
compensation payable under subsection (5a) by the holder of the mining
tenement or Miner’s Right concerned to an occupier of Crown land
referred to in that subsection shall be determined —
(a) by
agreement between that holder and that occupier; or
(b) in
default of agreement, by the warden’s court on the application of that
holder or that occupier.
(5c) A determination
made by the warden’s court under subsection (5b) is, for the purposes of
section 147(1), a final determination of the warden’s court.
[Section 20 3 amended: No. 122 of 1982 s. 6; No.
100 of 1985 s. 13; No. 22 of 1990 s. 5; No. 31 of 1997 s. 141; No. 63 of 2000
s. 4; No. 15 of 2002 s. 5; No. 39 of 2004 s. 50 and 88; No. 51 of 2012 s. 8;
No. 4 of 2023 s. 133.]
[ 20A-20C. Deleted: No. 51 of 2012 s. 9.]