Queensland Numbered Acts Queensland Numbered Acts(1) An initial mining area, or IMA, is an area in an overlapping area, identified in a joint development plan for the overlapping area, for which an ML (coal) holder to which the plan applies requires sole occupancy to carry out authorised activities for the ML (coal).
(2) The total area that may be identified as an IMA is the minimum area that is reasonably considered to be required for 10 years of safe mining.
(3) An IMA may be a single area, or a number of separate areas, each of which is an IMA.