South Australian Numbered Acts South Australian Numbered ActsSection 17—delete the section and substitute:
17—Royalty
(1) Subject to this
Act, royalty is payable to the Minister on all minerals recovered from mineral
land and—
(a) sold
or intended for sale; or
(b)
utilised, or to be utilised, for any commercial or industrial purpose.
(2) Royalty is not
payable on minerals recovered from mineral land that are removed from the area
of a mining tenement for the purpose of any testing of a kind approved by the
Minister.
(3) Royalty is only
payable on precious stones if the precious stones are recovered under this
Act.
(4) Subject to this or
any other relevant section, royalty will be equivalent to—
(a) in
the case of extractive minerals—35 cents per tonne, or such lesser
amount as may be prescribed by the regulations, as assessed at the mine gate;
or
(b) in
any other case—3.5% of the value of the minerals, as assessed in
accordance with subsection (5) (the "royalty assessment principles ).
(5) For the purposes
of subsection (4)(b) (and any other relevant section), the value of
minerals will be the value (the "ex-mine gate value ) that fairly represents
the market value (excluding GST) of the minerals at the time that the minerals
leave the area of—
(a)
unless paragraph (b) applies, the mining tenement from which the minerals
were recovered; or
(b) if
the minerals have been transported to mineral land the subject of a
miscellaneous purposes licence—that mineral land.
(6) Without limiting
any other relevant matter, the market value of particular minerals will be
determined according to—
(a) any
contract price obtained for the minerals if the sale is to a genuine purchaser
at arms length and taking into account the point of sale; or
(b) if
there is not a contract with a genuine purchaser at arms length as
contemplated by paragraph (a) in a particular case—
(i)
any price quoted or obtained on any market recognised by
the Minister (by notice published in the Gazette) as being a relevant industry
market for the purposes of determining the market value of minerals of that
kind; or
(ii)
if subparagraph (i) does not apply in a particular
case—the price (if any) declared by the Minister by notice in the
Gazette as being an indicative price for the minerals; or
(c) if
neither paragraph (a) nor (b) applies in a particular case, any price
obtained by other parties within the industry in relation to similar sales on
the open market within a period determined by the Minister.
(7) For the purposes
of subsection (6)(a), "contract price means—
(a) the
amount to be paid under the contract; plus
(b) the
value of any consideration, set-off, concession or other factor otherwise
taken into account by the parties to the contract in determining the amount to
be paid under the contract.
(8) Any costs of a
prescribed kind are not to be included in the market value of particular
minerals at the gate of the relevant tenement.
(9) The Minister may,
under an agreement between the Minister and the person liable to pay royalty
on any minerals other than extractive minerals, determine that royalty will be
payable according to the weight or volume of minerals recovered or some other
basis, and royalty will be payable by the person in accordance with the
determination.
(10) The Minister may,
on the application of a person liable to pay royalty under this section,
having regard to the effect that payment of such royalty would be likely to
have on the viability or profitability of mining operations carried on by the
person, waive payment of royalty wholly or in part, or reduce the rate at
which royalty is payable, on minerals recovered in the course of those
operations.
(11) Royalty may be
recovered by the Crown as a debt due to the Crown in any court of competent
jurisdiction.
(12) The holder of a
tenement from which minerals are recovered is liable to pay the royalty.
Note—
For private mines see section 73E.
17A—Reduced royalty for new mines
(1) The Minister may,
on the application of a person liable to pay royalty (other than on extractive
minerals), by notice in the Gazette, declare that a
mine will be taken to be a "new mine" for the purposes of this section.
(2) Despite
section 17, for the period of 5 years commencing on the date of paying
the first royalty payment under this Act, royalty payable in relation to
minerals (other than extractive minerals) recovered from mineral land at a new
mine will be equivalent to 1.5 per cent of the value of the minerals (as
assessed in accordance with the royalty assessment principles under
section 17).
(3) The Minister may,
by subsequent notice in the Gazette, vary or revoke a declaration under
subsection (1).
(4) An application
under this section must be made in a manner and form determined by the
Minister and must be lodged with the Director of Mines.
(5) An applicant must
provide any information reasonably required by the Minister to determine the
application.
(6) In determining
whether or not to make a declaration under this section, the Minister may have
regard to the following matters (insofar as they may be relevant):
(a) the
extent to which the mining operations to be carried on at the mine can be
viewed as constituting an extension of existing mining operations, or the
revival of mining operations that have been previously carried on;
(b) the
nature of the mining operations to be carried on at the mine when compared to
any existing operations carried on, or previously carried on, at the same
tenement, or a tenement within the vicinity of the relevant mine;
(c) the
relationship of the applicant to any other person carrying on mining
operations within the vicinity of the relevant mine (including, in the case of
a body corporate, mining operations carried on by a related body corporate
within the meaning of section 50 of the Corporations Act 2001 of the
Commonwealth);
(d) such
other matters as the Minister thinks fit.
17B—Assessments by Minister
(1) The Minister may
make an assessment of royalty under this Act if the Minister is of the opinion
that a person liable to pay royalty—
(a) has
not made a payment of royalty when it falls due; or
(b) has
not paid royalty in accordance with the royalty assessment principles (and any
related provision under this Act); or
(c) has
not paid royalty in accordance with any agreement or determination that
applies under section 17 or 17A; or
(d) has
not paid royalty in accordance with any other relevant requirement.
(2) Without limiting
subsection (1), the Minister may, on application or on the Minister's own
initiative, review and revise an earlier assessment of royalty (and that
revision will then be taken to be a new assessment for the purposes of this
Act).
(3) The Minister must
cause a copy of any assessment under this section to be served on the person
liable to pay the royalty.
(4) A person on whom a
copy of an assessment is served may, within 1 month after the date of service,
appeal against the assessment to the ERD Court.
(5) On the hearing of
an appeal, the ERD Court may vary the assessment of the Minister to such
extent as it thinks fit.
(6) In this
section—
"royalty assessment principles" means the royalty assessment principles that
apply under section 17.
17C—Recovery of royalty where appeal lodged
The fact that an appeal has been lodged under section 17B but not yet
determined does not in the meantime affect the assessment to which the appeal
relates, and the amount of any royalty or civil penalty amount determined as
being payable under this Act as a result of the assessment may be recovered as
if no appeal had been lodged.
17D—When royalty falls due
(1) Subject to this
Act, royalty will fall due—
(a) in
respect of minerals with an ex-mine gate value calculated during the period
between 1 January and 30 June (both dates inclusive) in any year—on 31
July of that year;
(b) in
respect of minerals with an ex-mine gate value calculated during the period
between 1 July and 31 December (both dates inclusive) in any year—on 31
January of the following year,
(but the Minister may, on application by the person liable to pay the royalty
or of his or her own motion, extend the date on which the royalty will fall
due).
(2) Despite
subsection (1), any royalty on minerals recovered from land within a
mining tenement or private mine will be due and payable (including for the
purposes of the imposition of a penalty amount for unpaid royalty under this
Act)—
(a) in
the case of a mining tenement—
(i)
when the mining tenement is being transferred or
surrendered; or
(ii)
when the mining tenement is suspended or cancelled; or
(iii)
when the mining tenement expires; or
(b) in
the case of a private mine—when the declaration of the relevant area as
a private mine is revoked; or
(c) at
any other time in accordance with the regulations.
(3) The Minister may,
on application by a person liable to pay royalty or of his or her own motion,
exempt (on such conditions as the Minister thinks fit) a person from the
operation of subsection (1) or (2) if the Minister is satisfied that it
is not reasonably practicable for the person to strictly comply with the
requirements of this section.
(4) In this
section—
"ex-mine gate value" means a value calculated in accordance with
section 17(5).
17E—Penalty for unpaid royalty
(1) If royalty payable
on minerals under this Act (other than extractive minerals recovered from a
private mine) is not paid on or by the day on which it fell due, the person
liable to pay the royalty is liable to pay a penalty amount, in addition to
the amount of royalty unpaid, equal to $1 000 plus the prescribed amount
for each month (or part of a month) for which the royalty remains unpaid.
(2) The Minister may,
at the Minister's discretion, remit a penalty amount payable under
subsection (1) by any amount.
(3) A penalty amount
may be recovered by the Crown as a debt due to the Crown in any court of
competent jurisdiction.
(4) In this
section—
"prescribed amount" is to be calculated as follows:
where—
"PA" is the prescribed amount;
"R" is the amount of unpaid royalty;
"CLRR" is the corporate loan reference rate applied by the Commonwealth Bank
of Australia for corporate lending on the day on which the royalty fell due.
17F—Processed minerals
For the purposes of the imposition of royalty under this Act, a reference to
minerals includes a reference to processed minerals.
17G—Means of payment
Royalty must be paid in accordance with any requirement prescribed or
authorised by or under the regulations.