South Australian Current Acts

MINING ACT 1971 - SECT 30AA

30AA—Area of licence

        (1)         The area of the land in respect of which an exploration licence is granted must not exceed 1 000 square kilometres unless, in the opinion of the Minister, circumstances exist that justify the grant of a licence in respect of a greater area.

        (2)         However, if the exploration licence allows for exploratory operations for precious stones in an opal development area, the area of land in respect of which a licence is granted cannot exceed 20 square kilometres unless, in the opinion of the Minister, circumstances exist that justify the grant of a licence in respect of a greater area.

        (3)         The holder of an exploration licence may apply to the Minister for approval to surrender a part of the area of the licence under an agreement that is intended to enable another party to the agreement (a "designated party") to obtain a new exploration licence in relation to the land to be surrendered.

        (4)         An application under subsection (3)—

            (a)         must be made in a manner and form determined by the Minister; and

            (b)         must be accompanied by such information as may be prescribed by the regulations; and

            (c)         must be accompanied by the prescribed fee.

        (5)         An application may not be made under subsection (3)—

            (a)         if the exploration licence is due to expire within 2 years of the making of the application; or

            (b)         if the other party to the agreement is, in relation to the tenement holder, a related body corporate.

        (6)         If the Minister decides to consider an application under subsection (3) (and notifies the parties accordingly)—

            (a)         the designated party has a period of 6 months to obtain an exploration licence over the land to which the application relates, or such longer period as may be allowed by the Minister; but

            (b)         if an exploration licence is not granted to the designated party within the period that applies under paragraph (a), the proposed surrender will be taken to be rejected.

        (7)         The tenement holder (and the exploration licence) will continue to be subject to all the requirements of this Act in relation to the land to which an application under subsection (3) relates while the designated party seeks to obtain an exploration licence over the land.

        (8)         The tenement holder may at any time withdraw an application under subsection (3) by notice given to the Minister in accordance with the regulations.

        (9)         If an application is withdrawn, an exploration licence will not be granted to the designated party under this section.

        (10)         If an exploration licence is granted to the designated party on application under subsection (3), the land to which the application relates will be taken to have been surrendered by the tenement holder on the date on which the new exploration licence is granted (but will not be considered to be open ground for the purposes of this Part).

        (11)         In addition and without limiting any other provision of this Act, the Minister may at any time, on application by the tenement holder or with the consent of the tenement holder, reduce the area of the licence.