MINING ACT 1978 - SECT 75

MINING ACT 1978 - SECT 75

75 .         Determination of application for mining lease

        (1)         A person who wishes to object to the granting of an application for a mining lease must lodge a notice of objection.

        (1AA)         A notice of objection must be —

            (a)         lodged within the prescribed time and in the prescribed manner; and

            (b)         accompanied by the prescribed fee.

        (1A)         A person is not entitled to lodge a notice of objection if the basis for the objection is that —

            (a)         there is no significant mineralisation in, on or under the land to which the application relates; or

            (b)         the mining lease, or activities authorised by it, would affect an offsets project.

        (1B)         Subsection (1A)(b) does not apply in respect of an offsets project, or any part of an offsets project, situated on land held in freehold.

        (2)         Subject to subsection (2a), if no notice of objection is lodged within the prescribed time, or any notice of objection is withdrawn, the mining registrar shall, unless subsection (4)(b) applies, forward to the Minister a report which recommends the grant or refusal of the mining lease and sets out the reasons for that recommendation.

        (2a)         If the application for the mining lease is accompanied by the documentation referred to in section 74(1)(ca)(ii), the mining registrar shall not forward a report under subsection (2) unless —

            (a)         the mining registrar has received a copy of the section 74A report in relation to the application; and

            (b)         the section 74A report states that there is significant mineralisation in, on or under the land to which the application relates.

        (3)         The mining registrar shall —

            (a)         recommend the grant of the mining lease if satisfied that the applicant has complied in all respects with the provisions of this Act; or

            (b)         recommend the refusal of the mining lease if not so satisfied.

        (4)         Subject to subsection (4a), if a notice of objection —

            (a)         is lodged within the prescribed time; or

            (b)         is not lodged within the prescribed time but is lodged before the mining registrar has forwarded a report to the Minister under subsection (2) and the warden is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for late lodgment,

                and the notice of objection is not withdrawn, the warden shall hear the application for the mining lease on a day appointed by the warden and may give any person who has lodged such a notice of objection an opportunity to be heard.

        (4a)         If the application for the mining lease is accompanied by the documentation referred to in section 74(1)(ca)(ii), the warden shall not hear the application unless —

            (a)         the warden has received a copy of the section 74A report in relation to the application; and

            (b)         the section 74A report states that there is significant mineralisation in, on or under the land to which the application relates.

        (5)         The warden shall as soon as practicable after the hearing of the application forward to the Minister for the Minister’s consideration —

            (a)         the notes of evidence; and

            (b)         any maps or other documents referred to in the notes of evidence; and

            (c)         a report which recommends the grant or refusal of the mining lease and sets out the reasons for that recommendation.

        (6)         On receipt of a report under subsection (2) or (5), the Minister may, subject to subsection (7), grant or refuse the mining lease as the Minister thinks fit, and irrespective of whether —

            (a)         the report recommends the grant or refusal of the mining lease; and

            (b)         the applicant has or has not complied in all respects with the provisions of this Act.

        (7)         In the case of an application for a mining lease made by the holder of —

            (a)         a prospecting licence under section 49; or

            (b)         an exploration licence under section 67; or

            (c)         a retention licence under section 70L,

                the Minister shall, subject to subsection (8) and the other provisions of this Act, grant to that holder one or more mining leases —

            (d)         in respect of any part or parts of the land the subject of the prospecting licence, exploration licence or retention licence, as the case requires; and

            (e)         on such terms and conditions as the Minister considers reasonable.

        (8)         In the case of an application for a mining lease that is accompanied by the documentation referred to in section 74(1)(ca)(ii), the Minister shall refuse to grant the mining lease if the section 74A report states that there is no significant mineralisation in, on or under the land to which the application relates.

        (9)         Subsection (7) does not apply to an application for a mining lease if all or part of the land to which that application relates falls within one or more of the classes of land referred to in section 24(1) or is in a marine nature reserve, marine park or marine management area.

        (10)         In this section —

        section 74A report means the report given to the Minister under section 74A.

        [Section 75 inserted: No. 58 of 1994 s. 29(1); amended: No. 52 of 1995 s. 29; No. 5 of 1997 s. 41(2); No. 39 of 2004 s. 31 and 63; No. 12 of 2010 s. 32; No. 39 of 2022 s. 12; No. 27 of 2023 s. 8.]