Mining Lease Application Assessment:

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Mining Lease Application Assessment Processes
within theMinerals and Energy Division PIRSA
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MINING ACT, 1971

• Why do we have mining legislation?
• To provide secure legal title for the exploration
  and development of the States mineral assets
• To provide landowners and other parties with the
  right to comment on mining title applications
• To provide for the payment of rental and
  royalties to the Crown who is the owner of all
  minerals within South Australia
• To regulate mining operations and ensure
  activities are conducted within the framework of
  sustainable development

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Exploring for Minerals

• Exploration in South Australia
• Large scale exploration is conducted under an
  Exploration Licence, which can be granted over an
  area not exceeding 1000km2
• Exploration activities include drilling,
  geophysical and geochemical surveys, airborne
  surveys and surface sampling
• It is this large-scale exploration that may lead
  to the identification of a valuable mineral
  resource

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Securing the Mining Title

• Notice of Entry
• Prior to gaining access to mineral land in SA for
  the purpose of exploring or mining a person must
  first be authorised
• Authority can be obtained by
• Serving on a landowner a prescribed notice of
  entry(21 days prior to entry)
• Entering into a written agreement with the
  landowner
• If you are a freehold landowner you have a right
  of objection to entry. An objection must be
  lodged with the Wardens Court and within 3
  months from the date of service of the form.

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Securing the Mining Title

• Mineral Claim
• A mineral claim is a prerequisite to a mining
  lease or retention lease
• A mineral claim can be pegged out over a maximum
  area of 250 hectares
• Posts are placed in the ground at each corner of
  the mineral claim
• Appropriate approvals are required before
  declared equipment can be used on a mineral claim
  and to remove more than one tonne of material
  from the site
• A mineral claim does not authorise the sale of
  any minerals

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Securing the Mining Title

• Mining Lease
• After a Mineral Claim has been registered, and
  you wish to proceed to a mining operation you
  must apply for a mining lease
• An application for a mining lease must be
  accompanied with a detailed mining and
  rehabilitation plan, which is then subject to a
  strict internal/external assessment and
  consultation process
• Annual Rental
• Upon the grant of a mining lease, the mining
  operator must pay an annual rent to the Crown
• Where the mining lease is situated on freehold
  land, the government will refund 95 of that
  rental to the landowner
• The current rate is 30.75 per hectare

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Exempt Land

• Exempt land is defined in Section 9 of the Mining
  Act, 1971.
• Some examples are
• cultivated field, orchard, vineyard, land within
  400m of a residence and land within 150m of a
  spring, well, reservoir or dam
• Waiver of Exemption
• If land within an exploration or mining title is
  exempt land, mining operations cannot commence on
  the exempt land, until the landowner has waived
  that exemption
• The exemption can be waived by agreement between
  the landowner and the mining operator or by order
  of the Wardens Court

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Compensation

• Entitlements to Landowners
• A landowner is entitled to receive compensation
  for any economic loss, hardship and inconvenience
  suffered as a consequence of mining operations
• When negotiating compensation the following
  matters should be considered
• Any damage to the land caused by mining
  operations.
• Any loss of productivity or profits as a result
  of mining operations
• Any other relevant matters
• If, the landowner and mining operator cannot
  agree on the amount of compensation, the matter
  may be determined by the appropriate court

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Wardens Court

• The Wardens Court
• Has the jurisdiction to determine matters
  relating to a mining tenement
• Is scheduled most Thursdays _at_ 3.30pm in Adelaide
• Allows you to represent yourself in a matter
  before the Court
• Allows you to appeal a judgement or order of the
  Wardens Court to the ERD Court
• Can only deal with proceedings relating to a
  claim for not more than 150,000

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Mining Lease Assessment - Stage 1
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Consultation Process

• Copies of the Mining Proposal are circulated to
  various parties for comment

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Mining Lease Assessment - Stage 2
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Mining Lease

• An approved Mining and Rehabilitation Program
  describing the proposed mining operations and
  rehabilitation measures must be provided prior to
  commencement of operations
• Mining Leases may be granted for a maximum of 21
  years though 7 years is most common.

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Rehabilitation Security Bond

• A Rehabilitation Security Bond must be lodged to
  ensure the obligations in relation to the
  rehabilitation of land disturbed by mining
  operations are met by the miner and not by public
  funding
• A Rehabilitation Security Bond must be in the
  form of an Unconditional Bank Guarantee or cash
  and lodged prior to the commencement of mining
  operations
• The amount of the Rehabilitation Security Bond
  will be regularly reviewed to ascertain the
  amount reflects the actual rehabilitation
  liability

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THE END