Mineral Resources Act 1989

The Minister may, after considering the criteria under section 271 for a mining lease application, decide to—

grant the applicant a mining lease for the whole or part of the land in the proposed lease area; or

reject the application; or

refer the matter to the Land Court to conduct a hearing or further hearing on the application generally or on specific matters raised by the Minister.

However, a mining lease may only be granted for land that is the surface of a reserve if—

the owner of the land has given written consent to the grant over the surface area and the applicant has lodged the consent with the chief executive; or

the Governor in Council has consented to the grant over the surface area.

Also, a mining lease may only be granted for land below the surface of the whole or part of a reserve that is rail corridor land if—

the owner of the land has given written consent to the grant for the land below the surface and the applicant has lodged the consent with the chief executive; or

the Governor in Council has consented to the grant for the land below the surface.

Further, if the application is 1 of the following, it may only be granted if the applicant’s proposed development plan for the proposed mining lease is approved—

an application for a mining lease for a prescribed mineral that, under section 246, is required to include a proposed development plan for the proposed mining lease;

an application for a coal mining lease;

an application for an oil shale mining lease.

If a mining lease is granted for only part of the land, the application is taken to have been rejected for the rest of the land.