Mining Act 1978

An application for a retention licence —

shall be in the prescribed form; and

shall be accompanied by the amount of the prescribed rent for the first year of the term of the licence or portion thereof as prescribed; and

shall be accompanied by the prescribed application fee; and

shall be lodged in the prescribed manner; and

shall be accompanied by a statement specifying —

the details of the programme of work (if any) proposed to be carried out in the area in respect of which the licence is sought; and

the estimated amount of money (if any) proposed to be expended on such work.

An applicant is to lodge within the prescribed time and in the prescribed manner a statutory declaration made by the applicant to the effect that —

there is an identified mineral resource in the area in respect of which the licence is sought; and

mining of that identified mineral resource is for the time being impracticable for one or more of the reasons referred to in subsection (2) (that reason or those reasons being set out in the statutory declaration).

For the purposes of subsection (2A)(b) mining of an identified mineral resource may be impracticable because —

the identified mineral resource is uneconomic or subject to marketing problems although that resource may reasonably be expected to become economic or marketable in the future; or

the identified mineral resource is required to sustain the future operations of an existing or proposed mining operation; or

there are existing political, environmental or other difficulties in obtaining requisite approvals.

An applicant shall at the request of the mining registrar or warden furnish such further information in relation to the application, or such evidence in support of the application, as the mining registrar or warden may require but the mining registrar or warden shall not require information or evidence relating to assays or other results of any testing or sampling that the applicant may have carried out on the land the subject of the application.

Within the prescribed period the applicant shall serve such notice of the application as may be prescribed on the owner and occupier of the land to which the application relates and on such other persons as may be prescribed.

The application shall be made by reference to a written description of the area of the land in respect of which the licence is sought, and be accompanied by a map on which are clearly delineated the boundaries of that area.

Where an application is made by the holder of a primary tenement and the term of the primary tenement would but for this subsection expire, the primary tenement shall continue in force in respect of the land the subject of the application until —

the retention licence is granted; or

if the retention licence is refused, the expiry of a period of 30 days after that refusal.

If, after an application is made under subsection (1) in respect of land the subject of a primary tenement —

the holder of the tenement transfers the tenement; or

where there are 2 or more holders of the tenement, a holder transfers the holder’s interest in the tenement,

For the purposes of subsection (7), where there are 2 or more transferees of the primary tenement, each of the transferees is to be regarded as an applicant for an interest in the relevant retention licence that corresponds to the interest held by that transferee in the primary tenement.