Mineral Resources Act 1989

The Minister must decide whether or not to give the approval of the application transfer for the application.

In deciding whether or not to give the approval, the Minister must consider—

the application for approval and any additional information accompanying the application; and

whether the transferee has the human, technical and financial resources to comply with the conditions of a mining lease under section 276; and

the public interest.

However, subsection (2) does not apply if, under subsection (5) or (6), the approval is taken to have been given.

The approval may be given only if the proposed transferee is—

an eligible person; and

a registered suitable operator under the Environmental Protection Act.

The approval is taken to have been given if—

under section 318AAR, an indicative approval has been given for the proposed transfer; and

subsection (4) does not prevent the giving of the approval; and

within 3 months after the giving of the indicative approval—

an application for approval of the application transfer is made; and

if, under section 318AAR, an indication of likely conditions was given—the conditions are complied with.

The approval is also taken to have been given if—

subsection (5)(a) and (b) is satisfied; and

before the expiration of 6 months after the giving of the indicative approval—

the applicant gives the chief executive a statement that there has been no material change relevant to the matters for which the indicative approval was given; and

subsection (5)(c)(i) and (ii) is satisfied.

Despite subsections (5) and (6), the approval of the application transfer is taken not to have been given if—

the request for indicative approval contained incorrect material information or omitted material information; and

had the Minister been aware of the discrepancy, the Minister would not have given the indicative approval.