South Australian Current Acts South Australian Current Acts30A—Term and renewals of licence
(1) An exploration
licence is to be granted for a term decided by the Minister of up to
6 years.
(2) If an exploration
licence is granted for a term of less than 6 years, the licence may
include a right of renewal but not so the aggregate term of the licence
exceeds 6 years during this initial period.
(3) An exploration
licence that does not include in its terms a right of renewal may be renewed
at the discretion of the Minister from time to time, but not so the aggregate
term of the licence exceeds 6 years.
(4) An application for
renewal of an exploration licence must be made to the Minister in a manner and
form determined by the Minister before the date of expiry of the licence
(including an expiry after 1 or more renewals under this section).
(4a) An application
under subsection (4) must be accompanied by—
(a) such
information as may be prescribed by the regulations; and
(b) any
other information that the Minister may require.
(5) If an application
for the renewal of an exploration licence is not decided before the date on
which the licence is due to expire, the licence continues in operation until
the application is decided and, if the licence is renewed, the renewal dates
from the date on which the licence would, but for this subsection, have
expired.
(6) The Minister may,
on renewing an exploration licence, add, vary or revoke a term or condition of
an exploration licence.
(7) The following
provisions will apply in relation to the renewal of an exploration licence:
(a) when
the term or aggregate term of the licence has reached the period of
6 years from the grant date, the next renewal may be for a period of up
to 6 years and if the renewal is granted for a period of less than
6 years then further renewals may be granted until the aggregate period
of renewal is 6 years (so that the term of the licence reaches the
12th anniversary of the grant date);
(b) if
application is made for renewal of the licence for a period beginning from the
12th anniversary of the grant date—
(i)
the term of renewal may be for a period of up to
6 years and if the renewal is granted for a period of less than
6 years then further renewals may be granted until the aggregate period
of renewal is 6 years (so that the term of the licence reaches the
18th anniversary of the grant date); and
(ii)
the area of the licence must be reduced by 50%
(being this percentage of the area of the licence at the grant date) at the
time of renewal (from the 12th anniversary of the grant date);
(c) the
result will be that the maximum period of an exploration licence with any
renewals can be up to (but not exceeding) 18 years.
(8) Subsection (7) is
subject to the qualification that—
(a) the
Minister and the tenement holder may at any time agree to reduce an area by a
percentage that exceeds the percentage referred to in that subsection; and
(b)
lesser reductions may be made by the Minister if retention status has been
granted in relation to the exploration licence under section 33B.
(9) Despite a
preceding subsection, the holder of an exploration licence may, before the
date of expiry of the licence, apply to the Minister for the renewal of the
licence pending a decision by the Minister on an application for the grant of
a mining lease or a retention lease that has been made by the tenement holder
under this Act.
(10) If an application
for the renewal of an exploration licence is made under subsection (9),
the licence continues in operation until the application for the mining lease
or retention lease (as the case may be) is decided.
(11)
Subsection (10) operates subject to the qualification that on the day on
which the licence would otherwise expire—
(a) the
area of the licence is reduced, by operation of this subsection, to the area
in relation to which the application for the mining lease or retention lease
(as the case may be) applies; and
(b) the
balance of the area will be taken to be relinquished ground.
(12) This section does
not limit the operation of any other section that provides for the
relinquishment, excision or other reduction of land in respect of which an
exploration licence is granted.
(13) For the purposes
of this section, the "grant date" is the date of the original grant of the
relevant exploration licence.