Where a superior and an inferior court have concurrent jurisdiction over a mining dispute, there is no presumption that the superior court should determine the dispute in preference to the inferior court. The complexity of a dispute does not, of itself, make the Supreme Court a more appropriate forum. The jurisdiction of the Warden's Court under s 132(1)(b) of the Mining Act 1978 (WA) extends to proceedings where the determination of a contractual dispute (such as whether a feasibility study was provided under a farm-in agreement) directly determines the question of title to a mining tenement.
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