Mining Act 1992

(Section 4)

access arrangement means an access arrangement under Division 2 of Part 8.

access management area means an access management area constituted under Part 10A.

activity approval —see sections 23A and 44A.

administrative levy means an administrative levy payable under Part 14A.

allocated mineral, in relation to a mineral allocation area, means a mineral or group of minerals in respect of which the mineral allocation area is constituted.

ancillary mining activity means any activity prescribed by the regulations as an ancillary mining activity for the purposes of this definition.

annual rental fee means an annual rental fee payable under Part 14A.

approved means approved by the Minister.

Arbitration Panel means the Arbitration Panel established by section 139.

arbitrator means an arbitrator appointed under Division 2 of Part 8.

assessable prospecting operation means any prospecting operation that is not exempt development.

assessment area means land the subject of an assessment lease.

assessment lease means an assessment lease granted under Part 4.

assessment (mineral owner) lease means an assessment lease granted to the owner of privately owned minerals with respect to those minerals.

authorisation means an authority, a small-scale title or an environmental assessment permit granted under section 252.

authorisation area means land that is the subject of an authorisation.

authority means an exploration licence, an assessment lease or a mining lease.

authority area means land the subject of an authority.

Chief Commissioner means the Chief Commissioner of State Revenue.

claim area means land the subject of a mineral claim.

colliery holding means a colliery holding registered in accordance with section 163.

Commonwealth Native Title Act means the Native Title Act 1993 of the Commonwealth.

consent authority has the same meaning as it has in the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979.

consolidated mining lease means a lease granted under Part 6.

controlled release area means a controlled release area constituted under section 368A.

controlled release mineral in relation to a controlled release area, means a mineral or group of minerals in respect of which the controlled release area is constituted.

controlling body, in relation to an exempted area, means—

in the case of land referred to in paragraph (a) or (c) of the definition of exempted area—the person having the control and management of the land, or

in the case of land referred to in paragraph (b) of that definition—the holder of the lease referred to in that paragraph, or

in the case of land referred to in paragraph (d) of that definition—the person prescribed by the regulations as the controlling body for that land for the purposes of this definition.

council has the same meaning as it has in the Local Government Act 1993.

dam includes the water or other material impounded by the dam.

decision-maker means—

in relation to a mineral claim or an opal prospecting licence, or an application for or with respect to such a claim or licence—the Secretary, or

in relation to a mineral owner authority, or an application for or with respect to such an authority—the Secretary, or

in relation to any other type of authority or an application for or with respect to any other type of authority—the Minister.

deferral approval means a deferral approval granted under section 291AA.

Department means the Department of Regional NSW.

derelict mine site means land declared as a derelict mine site under section 242A.

Derelict Mine Sites Fund means the fund established by section 242C.

development consent means a development consent under Part 4 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 or an approval under Part 3A or Division 5.2 of that Act.

director of a body corporate or corporation includes any person involved in the management of the affairs of the body corporate or corporation.

ecologically sustainable development has the same meaning as it has in section 6 (2) of the Protection of the Environment Administration Act 1991.

enforceable undertaking means an undertaking given under Division 4B of Part 17A.

environment includes all aspects of the surroundings of humans, whether affecting any human as an individual or in his or her social grouping.

environment protection legislation has the same meaning as in the Protection of the Environment Administration Act 1991.

environmental assessment permit means a permit under section 252.

environmental planning instrument has the same meaning as it has in the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979.

exclusion order means an exclusion order referred to in section 175B.

exempted area means an area constituted by land—

reserved, dedicated, appropriated, resumed or acquired for public purposes (except land reserved for a temporary common or a commonage), whether vested in the Crown or in any person as trustee for public purposes, or

held under a lease for water supply by virtue of a special lease or otherwise, or

transferred, granted or vested in trust by the Crown for the purpose of a race-course, cricket-ground, recreation reserve, park or permanent common or for any other public purpose, or

prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this definition.

exercise a function includes perform a duty.

exploration area means land the subject of an exploration licence.

exploration licence means an exploration licence granted under Part 3.

exploration (mineral owner) licence means an exploration licence granted to the owner of privately owned minerals with respect to those minerals.

former holder, in relation to an authorisation that has ceased to apply to land (including because it has been cancelled, expired or has otherwise ceased to have effect), means the person who was the holder of the authorisation immediately before it ceased to apply to the land.

fossicking district means a fossicking district constituted under section 369A.

full transfer, in relation to an authority, means a transfer of the authority that relates to the whole authority area.

function includes power, authority and duty.

Government agency means—

a Government Department, or

an Administrative Office, or

a corporation designated by the Minister under section 387.

group of minerals means any minerals prescribed by the regulations as a group of minerals for the purposes of this definition.

head lease means a mining lease in relation to which a mining sublease has effect under section 83A.

incapacitated person means the following—

an involuntary patient within the meaning of the Mental Health Act 2007,

a protected person within the meaning of the NSW Trustee and Guardian Act 2009, being a person for whom an order is in force under the NSW Trustee and Guardian Act 2009, Part 4.2 or 4.3 or the Guardianship Act 1987 that the whole or a part of the person’s estate be subject to management under the NSW Trustee and Guardian Act 2009,

a person is incommunicate within the meaning of the Powers of Attorney Act 2003, but only if an enduring power of attorney authorises an attorney to act for the person in relation to an application while incommunicate.

inspector means an inspector appointed under section 361.

land includes land covered by water.

landholder means, in relation to an exempted area, the controlling body of that land, or, in relation to any other land—

the owner of an estate in fee simple in the land, or

a native title holder of the land, or

the holder of a lease or licence under the Crown Land Management Act 2016 over the land, or

the holder of a continued tenure within the meaning of Schedule 1 to the Crown Land Management Act 2016, or

the holder of a permissive occupancy granted over the land, or

(Repealed)

a person identified in any register or record kept by the Registrar-General as a person having an interest in the land, being—

a mortgagee in possession of the land, or

a lessee of the land or other person entitled to an exclusive right of occupation of the land, or

a Minister or public authority having the benefit of a covenant affecting the land that is imposed by a Minister on behalf of the Crown under the Crown Land Management Act 2016, or

a Minister or public authority having an interest in the land under a conservation, natural heritage or biobanking agreement, or

a person prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this paragraph, or

a person identified in any register or record kept by the Registrar-General as a person having an interest in the land, other than a person to whom paragraph (g) applies, but only in a provision of this Act in which a reference to a landholder is expressed to include a secondary landholder, or

Note.

See s 255A, Part 13, s 383C.

a person of a class prescribed by or determined in accordance with the regulations to be landholders for the purposes of this definition, but does not include a person of a class prescribed as outside the scope of this definition.

local government area has the same meaning as area has in the Local Government Act 1993.

mine means—

when used as a noun—any place, pit, shaft, drive, level or other excavation, drift, gutter, lead, vein, lode, reef or salt-pan (whether occurring naturally or artificially created) in, on or by means of which, any mining operation is carried on, and

when used as a verb—to extract material from land for the purpose of recovering minerals from the material so extracted or to rehabilitate land (other than a derelict mine site) from which material has been extracted, but does not include any activity declared not to be mining by a regulation under section 11A or by an order made under such a regulation.

mineral means any substance prescribed by the regulations as a mineral for the purposes of this definition, and includes coal and oil shale, but does not include petroleum.

mineral allocation area means a mineral allocation area constituted under section 368.

mineral claim means a mineral claim granted under Part 9.

mineral claims district means a mineral claims district constituted under Division 1 of Part 9.

mineral owner authority means an exploration (mineral owner) licence, an assessment (mineral owner) lease or a mining (mineral owner) lease.

miners’ representative, in relation to an access management plan over land, means a person or body prescribed by the regulations, or nominated as prescribed by the regulations, to represent the interests of holders (and potential holders) of small-scale titles with respect to the land.

mining area means land the subject of a mining lease.

mining division means a mining division constituted under section 366.

mining improvement includes—

any machinery used for or in connection with prospecting or mining, and

any race, drain, dam or reservoir so used.

mining lease means a mining lease granted under Part 5, and includes a consolidated mining lease.

mining (mineral owner) lease means a mining lease granted to the owner of privately owned minerals with respect to those minerals.

mining operations means operations carried out in the course of mining.

mining sublease means an assignment, or purported assignment, by the holder of a mining lease to another person of rights and obligations conferred by the lease, for a limited period.

mining sublease area or sublease area means land that is the subject of a mining sublease.

mining sublease register means the register of mining subleases kept under section 163A.

native title holder has the same meaning as it has in the Commonwealth Native Title Act.

new authority means the authority that is taken by section 122 (5) (b) to have been granted on a partial transfer.

opal prospecting area means an opal prospecting area constituted under Division 1 of Part 10.

opal prospecting block means an opal prospecting block constituted under Division 1 of Part 10.

opal prospecting licence means an opal prospecting licence granted under Division 2 of Part 10.

original authority means the authority the partial transfer of which results in a new authority being taken, by section 122 (5) (b), to have been granted.

partial transfer, in relation to an authority, means a transfer of an authority only in so far as part of the authority area is concerned.

party means—

in relation to a hearing before an arbitrator—a person who is entitled to appear and be heard at the hearing pursuant to section 146, or

in relation to an access arrangement—the holder of a prospecting title to whom, or a landholder of land to which, the arrangement relates.

permissive occupancy means a continued permissive occupancy within the meaning of Schedule 1 to the Crown Land Management Act 2016.

permit means a permit in force under Division 2 of Part 12.

petroleum has the same meaning as it has in the Petroleum (Onshore) Act 1991.

Planning Secretary has the same meaning as in the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979.

premises includes—

a building or structure, or

land or a place (whether enclosed or built on or not), or

a mobile plant, vehicle, vessel or aircraft.

preserved mining field means a preserved mining field constituted by an order referred to in section 173A (2).

privately owned mineral means a mineral that is not owned by, or reserved to, the Crown.

prospect means to carry out works on, or to remove samples from, land for the purpose of testing the mineral bearing qualities of the land, but does not include any activity declared not to be prospecting by a regulation under section 11A or by a declaration made under such a regulation.

prospecting operations means operations carried out in the course of prospecting.

public authority means a public authority constituted by or under an Act, and includes—

a Government Department, and

a statutory body representing the Crown, a State owned corporation within the meaning of the State Owned Corporations Act 1989 and a subsidiary (within the meaning of that Act), and

a council, and

a member of staff or other person who exercises functions on behalf of a public authority.

publicly owned mineral means a mineral that is owned by, or reserved to, the Crown.

record includes a plan, specifications, map, report, book and other document (whether in writing, in electronic form or otherwise).

registered access management plan means an access management plan registered under section 236I.

registered native title body corporate has the same meaning as in the Commonwealth Native Title Act.

registered native title claimant has the same meaning as in the Commonwealth Native Title Act.

registered surveyor means a person who is registered as a land surveyor or mining surveyor under the Surveying and Spatial Information Act 2002.

rehabilitation means the treatment or management of disturbed land or water for the purpose of establishing a safe and stable environment.

reject, in relation to a decision on an application, means reject without consideration of the application.

related body corporate has the same meaning as in the Corporations Act 2001 of the Commonwealth.

related corporation, in relation to the holder of, or applicant or tenderer for or with respect to, an authorisation that is a corporation, means a corporation that is, with respect to that holder, applicant or tenderer, a related body corporate within the meaning of the Corporations Act 2001 of the Commonwealth.

reserve means a reserve constituted under section 367.

resources legislation means this Act, the Petroleum (Onshore) Act 1991 and the regulations and other instruments made under those Acts.

Royalties for Rejuvenation Fund or Rejuvenation Fund—see section 292W.

Secretary means the Secretary of the Department.

secondary landholder —see paragraph (g1) of the definition of landholder.

security deposit condition has the same meaning as in Part 12A.

significant improvement on land, in relation to an authorisation or an access arrangement, means a work or structure that—

is a substantial and valuable improvement to the land, and

is reasonably necessary for the operation of the landholder’s lawful business or use of the land, and

is fit for its purpose (immediately or with minimal repair), and

cannot reasonably co-exist with the exercise of rights under the authorisation or the access arrangement without hindrance to the full and unencumbered operation or functionality of the work or structure, and

cannot reasonably be relocated or substituted without material detriment to the landholder, and includes any work or structure prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this definition, but does not include any work or structure excluded from this definition by the regulations.

small-scale title means a mineral claim or an opal prospecting licence.

special conditions means—

in relation to a mineral claims district—the conditions specified under section 175 as the conditions to which mineral claims registered over land within the district are to be subject, or

in relation to an opal prospecting area—the conditions specified under section 223A as the conditions to which opal prospecting licences granted over land within the area are to be subject.

state conservation area means land reserved as a state conservation area under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974.

transfer, in relation to an authority, means a full or partial transfer of the authority.

transferee, in relation to a partial transfer of an authority, means the holder of the new authority.

uranium includes uranium minerals and uranium ores.

work health and safety legislation means—

the Occupational Health and Safety Act 1983 and the regulations made under that Act, and

the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000 and the regulations made under that Act, and

the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 and the regulations made under that Act, and

the Work Health and Safety (Mines and Petroleum Sites) Act 2013 and the regulations made under that Act, and

the Coal Mines Regulation Act 1982 and the regulations and any rules made under that Act, and

the Coal Mine Health and Safety Act 2002 and the regulations made under that Act, and

the Mine Health and Safety Act 2004 and the regulations made under that Act, and

the Mines Inspection Act 1901 and the regulations and any rules made under that Act.

work program means a work program referred to in section 129A.