MINING AMENDMENT ACT 2012 (NO. 51 OF 2012) - SECT 15
MINING AMENDMENT ACT 2012 (NO. 51 OF 2012) - SECT 15
15 . Part IIIA inserted
After section 39
insert:
Part IIIA — Miner’s rights and related permits
In this
Part —
available land , in relation to a miner’s
right, means —
(a)
Crown land or conservation land that is not the subject of a mining tenement;
or
(b)
Crown land or conservation land that is the subject of an exploration licence
if the holder of the miner’s right holds a permit under section 40E
in respect of the land;
conservation land means land that is prescribed
under section 40B as conservation land for the purposes of this Part.
(1) The regulations
may prescribe land as conservation land for the purposes of this Part
if —
(a) the
land is of the class referred to in section 24(1)(c) and is not land that
is classified as a class A reserve; and
(b) the
care, control and management of the land is placed by order under the
Land Administration Act 1997 Part 4 with the Conservation
Commission.
(2) Regulations made
for the purposes of subsection (1) may only be made with the concurrence
of the Minister responsible for the administration of the
Conservation and Land Management Act 1984 .
(1) The Minister, the
Director General of Mines or a mining registrar may, on the application of a
natural person and on being satisfied of the identity of the person, issue a
miner’s right to the person.
(2) An application for
a miner’s right must be accompanied by the prescribed application fee
(if any).
(3) A miner’s
right —
(a) must
be in the prescribed form; and
(b) is
not limited in term; and
(c) is
not transferable.
40D. Authorisation under miner’s right
(1) Subject to this
Act the holder of a miner’s right is authorised to do all or any of the
following things —
(a) pass
and repass over Crown land or conservation land with such employees and
agents, vehicles, machinery and equipment as may be necessary or expedient for
the purpose of prospecting and marking out any land which may be made the
subject of an application for a mining tenement;
(b)
prospect for minerals and conduct tests for minerals on available land for the
purpose of determining whether to mark out or apply for a mining tenement in
respect of any part of the land;
(c)
extract or remove from available land samples or specimens of rock, ore or
minerals with as little damage to the surface of the land as possible, in
quantities, in total or on occasions, not exceeding the prescribed limits;
(d) keep
as the holder’s property or use for testing or evaluation purposes any
samples and specimens of any mineral found by the holder on available land;
(e) for
the purpose of prospecting and for domestic purposes and subject to the
Rights in Water and Irrigation Act 1914 , or any Act amending or
replacing the relevant provisions of that Act —
(i)
take and use water from any natural spring, lake, pool or
watercourse situated in or flowing through available land; and
(ii)
sink a well or bore on available land and take and use
water from the well or bore;
(f) for
the purpose of prospecting, camp on Crown land or conservation land in such
manner and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed;
(g)
fossick by prescribed means on Crown land or conservation land with the prior
written consent of —
(i)
any occupier of that land; and
(ii)
if the land is subject to a mining tenement, the holder
of the mining tenement.
(2) Every
miner’s right is to be regarded as having been issued subject to the
conditions that the holder of the miner’s right or any other person
acting in the exercise or purported exercise of an authorisation conferred or
alleged to be conferred by subsection (1) —
(a) must
not, on conservation land, do any of the things referred to in that subsection
unless authorised to do so under the Conservation and Land Management
Act 1984 ; and
(b) must
not use explosives or tools, other than tools prescribed for the purposes of
this paragraph or hand tools; and
(c) must
cause to be filled in or otherwise made safe —
(i)
all holes, pits, trenches and other disturbances on the
surface of the land which were made by the person while acting in the exercise
or purported exercise of the authorisation and which are likely to endanger
the safety of any person or animal; and
(ii)
such other holes, pits, trenches and other disturbances
made, wholly or in part, by the person as the Minister may from time to time
direct;
and
(d) must
take all necessary steps to prevent the following —
(i)
fire damage to trees or other property;
(ii)
damage to property or to livestock by the presence of
dogs, the discharge of firearms, the use of vehicles or otherwise.
(3) The holder of a
miner’s right is liable to pay compensation in accordance with
section 123, as may be agreed or as may be determined by the
warden’s court on the application of the owner or occupier of the land
or of the holder of any mining tenement affected, for any loss or damage
caused by, and not made good by, the holder or any other person acting in the
exercise or purported exercise of an authorisation conferred or alleged to be
conferred by subsection (1).
(4) A determination
made by the warden’s court under subsection (3) is, for the
purposes of section 147(1), a final determination of the warden’s
court.
40E. Permit to prospect on Crown land or
conservation land subject of exploration licence
(1) The mining
registrar or the holder of a prescribed office in the Department may issue a
permit to prospect for minerals on Crown land or conservation land that is the
subject of an exploration licence to —
(a) a
natural person who is the holder of a miner’s right; or
(b) 2 or
3 natural persons, each of whom is the holder of a miner’s right, as
joint holders of the permit.
(2) A permit cannot be
issued under subsection (1) if the applicant for the permit is already
the holder of a permit under this section in respect of the exploration
licence to which his or her application relates.
(3) An application for
a permit —
(a) must
be made in the prescribed form; and
(b) must
be lodged in the prescribed manner; and
(c) must
be accompanied by the prescribed application fee (if any).
(4) The area of land
in respect of which a permit is issued is to be specified in the permit in the
prescribed manner.
(5) A permit is
subject to such conditions as are imposed in accordance with the regulations
and specified in the permit.
(6) In addition to any
conditions that may be imposed under subsection (5) every permit is to be
regarded as having been issued subject to conditions that the holder or each
holder (in the case of joint holders) —
(a) must
not use explosives or tools, other than hand tools, on the land the subject of
the permit; and
(b) must
not prospect below the prescribed depth; and
(c) must
comply with the prescribed limits referred to in section 40D(1)(c); and
(d) must
not prospect within 100 m of any activities that are being carried out under
the authority of an exploration licence; and
(e) must
not prospect on land that is the subject of a special prospecting licence
under section 70.
(7) A permit is not
transferable.
40F. Power to remove Crown land or conservation
land from operation of s. 40E
(1) The Minister may,
by notice published in the Gazette , declare that section 40E does not
apply to Crown land or conservation land that is —
(a) the
subject of a specified exploration licence; or
(b) in a
specified block (within the meaning of Part IV Division 2); or
(c) in a
specified area of the State.
(2) The Minister may,
by notice published in the Gazette , vary or cancel a notice under
subsection (1).
(3) A notice under
this section takes effect on the day on which the notice is published in the
Gazette or such later day as is specified in the notice.
(4) A notice under
this section does not affect the operation of a permit issued under
section 40E before the day on which the notice takes effect.
40G. Limitation on actions in tort
(1) In this
section —
permit means a permit issued under
section 40E;
permit land means land that is the subject of both
the permit and the exploration licence concerned.
(2) The holder of a
permit cannot bring an action in tort against the holder of an exploration
licence for injury, loss or damage suffered by the holder of the permit as a
result of —
(a) the
condition of the permit land; or
(b) a
thing that the holder of the exploration licence has done on the permit land
under the authority of that licence.
(3) Nothing in
subsection (2)(b) prevents the bringing of an action in tort if the thing
was done —
(a) with
the deliberate intent of causing injury, loss or damage to the holder of the
permit; or
(b) with
reckless disregard for the presence of the holder of the permit on the permit
land.
(4) In this section a
reference to the doing of a thing includes a reference to an omission to do a
thing.