MINING ACT 1978 - SECT 96

MINING ACT 1978 - SECT 96

96 .         Forfeiture of certain mining tenements

        (1)         The warden may upon the application of —

            (a)         the Minister or any mining registrar or other officer of the Department authorised by the Minister in writing in that behalf; or

            (b)         any person,

                made in the prescribed form and in the prescribed manner, make an order for the forfeiture of any prospecting licence or a miscellaneous licence granted or acquired under this Act or by virtue of the repealed Act.

        (1a)         An authorisation under subsection (1)(a) may be given to a specified officer or to officers of a specified class, or may be given to the holder or holders for the time being of a specified office or class of office.

        (2)         An order for forfeiture may be made in relation to a mining tenement to which subsection (1) applies if —

            (a)         the prescribed rent or royalty in respect thereof is not paid in accordance with this Act; or

            (b)         any term or condition to which the mining tenement is subject, including any condition referred to in section 46 or section 50, is not complied with; or

            (ba)         a report required under section 51 or 115A in relation to the mining tenement is not filed in accordance with this Act; or

            (baa)         any request under section 51A is not complied with; or

            (bb)         any requirement under section 52(1a), 55B(2) or 115B(2) is not complied with; or

            (c)         the holder of the mining tenement is convicted of an offence against this Act,

                but an order shall not be made under subsection (1) unless the warden is satisfied that the requirements of this Act in relation to such mining tenement have not been complied with in a material respect and that the matter is of sufficient gravity to justify the forfeiture of the mining tenement.

        (2a)         An application for forfeiture under subsection (1)(b) and made in respect of the expenditure conditions applicable to the mining tenement shall be made during the expenditure year in relation to which the requirement is not complied with or within 8 months thereafter, and not otherwise.

        (3)         A warden, as he thinks fit in the circumstances of the case, as an alternative to making an order under this section for forfeiture of such mining tenement may —

            (a)         impose on the holder of the mining tenement —

                  (i)         in a case where expenditure conditions have not been complied with, a penalty not exceeding $10 000;

                  (ii)         in any other case, a penalty not exceeding $75 000 if the holder is an individual or $150 000 if the holder is a body corporate;

                or

            (b)         award the whole or any part of the amount of any such penalty to the applicant if the applicant is not the Minister, a mining registrar or an officer of the Department authorised in writing by him; or

            (c)         impose no penalty on the holder.

        (3a)         Where —

            (a)         a mining tenement that is the subject of an application for forfeiture under this section is surrendered (other than by way of a conditional surrender or a surrender under section 26A or 65) before that application is dealt with by the warden; and

            (b)         the applicant for forfeiture is not the Minister, a mining registrar or an officer of the Department authorised in writing by the Minister,

                the applicant for forfeiture has, from the date on which the surrender is registered until the expiry of a period of 14 days after the date of being served with written notice of the surrender by an officer of the Department, a right in priority to any other person to mark out or apply for, or both, a mining tenement upon the whole or any part of the land that was the subject of the surrendered mining tenement.

        (3b)         Where —

            (a)         a prospecting licence that is the subject of an application for forfeiture under this section has continued in force under section 49(2) or 70C(6) pending the determination of an application referred to in that section (the tenement application ); and

            (b)         the applicant for forfeiture is not the Minister, a mining registrar or an officer of the Department authorised in writing by the Minister; and

            (c)         the tenement application is withdrawn in accordance with the regulations before the application for forfeiture is dealt with by the warden,

                the applicant for forfeiture has, from the date on which the tenement application is withdrawn until the expiry of a period of 14 days after the date of being served with written notice of the withdrawal by an officer of the Department, a right in priority to any other person to mark out or apply for, or both, a mining tenement upon the whole or any part of the land that was the subject of the prospecting licence.

        (4)         Where an order for the forfeiture of a mining tenement is made under this section, if the applicant therefor was not the Minister, a mining registrar or an officer authorised in writing by the Minister, such applicant shall have, for a period of 14 days after the date of the order, a right in priority to any other person to mark out or apply for, or both, a mining tenement upon the whole or part of the land that was the subject thereof.

        (5)         If the applicant fails to proceed with his forfeiture application the warden may award the holder of the mining tenement such sum for costs and expenses as the warden thinks fit.

        (6)         Where any penalty imposed as an alternative to forfeiture under subsection (3)(a) is not paid within the time specified by the warden or within 30 days of the hearing of the application for forfeiture if no such time is specified by the warden, the mining tenement shall thereupon be forfeited and the rights conferred on the applicant for forfeiture under subsection (4) shall apply as if the warden had made an order for forfeiture on the day on which the mining tenement is forfeited pursuant to this subsection.

        (7)         No prospecting licence shall be forfeited for non-compliance by the holder thereof with the expenditure conditions, if the holder satisfies the warden that the non-compliance therewith has been occasioned by a strike.

        (8)         Subject to section 97A, the warden may, for any cause that he deems sufficient and subject to subsection (9), cancel —

            (a)         an order for the forfeiture of any mining tenement made under subsection (1); or

            (b)         the forfeiture arising under subsection (6) of any mining tenement referred to in subsection (1),

                and restore the mining tenement so forfeited to the holder thereof.

        (9)         The warden may, in effecting a cancellation and restoration under subsection (8), impose on the holder of the mining tenement restored under that subsection such conditions as he thinks fit.

        [Section 96 amended: No. 69 of 1981 s. 21; No. 100 of 1985 s. 68; No. 105 of 1986 s. 13; No. 22 of 1990 s. 28 and 38; No. 37 of 1993 s. 13; No. 58 of 1994 s. 41; No. 54 of 1996 s. 23; No. 17 of 1999 s. 6(4); No. 15 of 2002 s. 21 and 28; No. 39 of 2004 s. 46 and 93; No. 51 of 2012 s. 28.]